


Can't You See That There's No Logic To Love?

by brokenhighways



Series: There's No Logic To Love [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Angst and Humor, Fake Marriage, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Organized Crime, Schmoop, Unrequited Love, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2013-02-03
Packaged: 2017-11-27 23:56:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/667937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared and Jensen never really spoke to each other in high school but they had one thing in common - the second they graduated high school, they both got the hell out of Texas. However, ten years later they’re reunited at the wedding of a mutual friend of theirs and realise that they have something else in common. They’re both a. broke and b. down on their luck. As they watch the wedding procession an idea springs to Jensen’s mind and Jared finds that he’s desperate enough to agree. It’s a simple enough plan-- they pretend to be engaged, get married and sell the gifts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Notes** : Written for _spnaubigbang_. The names of the J's parents/siblings have been changed because I suddenly developed a conscience. ;) Title sort-of-taken from a Billy Talent song. 
> 
> **Acknowledgements** : As usual, thanks to **anon_fan** and **ace_p** for reading this when it was barely a thousand words long and going nowhere and encouraging me to continue. Thanks also to **forhimxx** for the great art! And a huge, huge thank you to **tipsy_kitty** for beta-ing, she was extremely helpful and patient and answered all of my questions (and there were a lot of them!). I truly think that she made my story a lot better than it was when I was initially finished with it. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

 

Part One.

It’s not surprising that Tom Welling is getting married. It’s not even surprising that he’s having a huge outdoor garden wedding at some huge hotel in Dallas. Hell, it’s not even surprising that Jared’s parents offer to pay for his ticket so that he doesn’t try to skip it altogether. It’s not surprising that after almost a decade away from home, Jared’s packed up all of his shit and high-tailed it back to Texas. He didn't really see any other option after he lost his job in New York. It turns out that high school boards don’t think “attacking” (Jared barely even  _grazed_ the guy) a janitor is becoming of a teacher. He tried pleading his case to the board but they fired him anyway.

What is surprising though is that the house in Dallas that Jared spent pretty much all of his savings on is a piece of shit. The pictures on the website certainly did not display the fact that the paint on the ceilings is peeling off. The kitchen tap leaked. There was a large brown ring on one of the walls in the bathroom. The water pipes creaked so loudly that Jared started to feel like he was in a horror movie. The toilet wasn't even fastened to the floor properly. After ten minutes of staring at his “quaint” little house with misgivings, Jared shrugs and goes outside to wait for his moving van. It’d set off about a week ago with most of his items because he couldn't afford to FedEx everything from New York to Dallas. He’d timed his arrival perfectly so that it’d come on same day so he shouldn't have long to wait.

He ends up waiting for an extra two days and to make things worse, the driver turns out to be none other than Jensen Ackles, the kid who was a couple of grades ahead of him in high school. He’d been the quarterback, valedictorian and voted ‘Most Likely to be Successful’ in his yearbook. Well, maybe his moving van company was a raging success. Jared supposes that he shouldn’t judge.

“So, here’s the thing,” Jensen says when he hops out. “I sort of got half robbed at a gas station like two days ago.” Jared’s not surprised at all, because…just his luck.

“What do you mean by half-robbed?” he asks warily.

“Well I caught them before they could offload everything into their truck?” Jensen says it like it’s a question and Jared just frowns at him. “Okay, so apart from the ratty sofa and the bed, almost everything is gone.”

Jared simply sighs.

“You’re Jensen Ackles.”

“Fuck,” is Jensen’s less-than-eloquent response.

“So I guess that you’re  _not_  really a high profile lawyer who works in New York City earning more per year that I ever did while teaching English in New York State. That or for some bizarre reason, you decided to change careers.”

“I take it our mothers know each other,” Jensen says dryly as he sips at the glass of water Jared had offered him. “Sorry.” Jared tries not to feel disappointed over the fact that Jensen clearly has no idea who he is. Hell, he might even be able to use to it to his advantage. Not that he plans on doing anything with Jensen Ackles, ever.

“Oh it’s okay,” Jared says with his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I mean, I’ve only heard the “Why can’t you be more like Jensen Ackles” speech a million times. I didn’t mind hearing it at all.” Jensen winces but he doesn’t reply and Jared takes the time to look at him. He looks older than he did when Jared last saw him back before he went off to college. He’s got light brown hair that’s cut short and styled rather…stylishly. There’s a smattering of brown freckles on his pale face and he has these green eyes that are kind of like—

“Dude, you’re staring.”

“You had something on your face.” Jared blurts out and Jensen just chuckles at him. He hasn’t really made an attempt to leave and Jared’s not rude enough to just kick the guy out. So he talks. That usually gets people to get the hell out because Jared can pretty much talk everyone outta the room.

“You invited to Tom’s wedding?” he asks because he’s pretty sure Jensen and Tom were tight once upon a time.

“Yup. I’m his emergency best man,” Jensen says. “You?”

“Of course,” Jared replies. “Like my mother would let me miss an opportunity to tell me to my face about all of my colossal screw ups.” Jensen hums in response and Jared just shrugs and goes back to staring at him. He’s got these full, luscious lips that are all pouty and wet and hell if Jared doesn’t just want to kiss them. He’s wearing a tight black t-shirt that allows Jared to (mentally) drool all over his arms and his eyes start to travel lower Jensen snorts.

“Dude, you’re not even subtle,” he says. Jared just shrugs because he’s had a shitty three days okay? Obviously Jensen Ackles turning up is his reward for having to return to Texas with his head hanging in shame. “But for what it’s worth, I think you’re hot too.”

“Who said that I thought you were hot?” Jared says because he’s not that easy. He’s not going to sleep with Jensen just because he’s hot and Jared’s a little (okay,  _a lot_ ) horny at the moment. Jared has standards that he’s not going to sacrifice them for  _Jensen Ackles_. “Who said that I wanted to sleep with you?” Jensen says and apparently Jared says that last part out loud.  Not that it matters when Jensen’s down on his knees in front of him twenty minutes later giving Jared the best damn blowjob of his life.

Perhaps moving into The Worst House on the Planet™ won’t suck out loud after all.

Jared doesn't see Jensen again until the wedding. He just wants to get this day over with so he can go home and marathon  _Battlestar Galactica_  while wallowing in self-pity. "It's a beautiful day, right?" he says to the older guy on his left who’s sitting next to his wife. He's saved from total boredom by Jensen arriving at the table. The last time he saw Jensen they were naked and he was riding Jensen pretty damn hard. So it’s not his fault that his cock twitches at the sight of him. Jensen's sporting a black eye and Jared quirks up an eyebrow.

"I take it you've been relieved of your emergency best man duties."

 "I've been exposed as the lying liar that I am. My mother's been keeping me hostage ever since and some loan shark I owed money to apparently followed me down here to get his money back."

"And you owe me the cash I lent you when you dropped my things off at my house," Jared adds helpfully. "But I'm willing to forget and forgive if you give me a blo--" The old guy starts to cough and Jared looks up and realises that he has an audience. Jensen just throws his head back and laughs, eyes crinkling at the corner and sparkling in the sunshine. Soon Jared's laughing too and it must be infectious or something because even old guy and his wife are smiling a little. Mrs Welling chooses that moment to stroll by, and her look of disapproval just makes Jared laugh even more.

"You certainly have a way with words..." Jensen remarks when they've sobered up.

"Come over to my place for dinner and I'll try and wow you some more," Jared suggests in what he hopes is a smooth tone. Jensen merely clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck gently.

"Uh, you're a great guy but...I'm not looking for a relationship right now." Jared nods understandingly because he still retains some pride and he's not going to get all pushy about it.

“I don’t think stale ramen noodles would have made a good dinner anyway.”

 They don't really speak much after that.

The ceremony eventually starts after a minor flower emergency and Jared just sighs and thanks God that he already knows that he's going to die alone along with his extensive DVD collection. The look of sheer terror on Tom's face as he stands up at the front and waits for Lyn, his bride, to walk up the aisle is enough to dissuade Jared from having notions of getting married. It just doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle. You book a venue; buy the dress, the suit, catering, invitations and just a never-ending torrent of other bullshit. No thank you. By the time Jared's finished going through the mechanics of weddings inside his head the ceremony is starting up. “I Got You, Babe” starts to play softly through the speakers and Jared winces to himself.

By the end of the ceremony he has a headache and Jensen’s spent most of it ignoring him. So all in all his day’s been pretty swell so far. They all have to wait inside while the workers set up the garden for the reception and Jared finds his table number and selects the meal he wants. The whole thing just oozes of money and pompousness and if Jared wasn’t hungry as fuck, he’d probably bail. The sight of Jensen heading his way makes him groan. He tries to turn and maybe head off in another direction but Jensen starts to call after him.

“Hey! Jared, wait up!” Jared stops grudgingly, a frown settling on his face.

“What?” he says shortly and Jensen stops in front of him and smiles apologetically. For a moment Jared finds himself captivated by those green eyes, and Jensen’s stupidly adorable golden brown freckles and—

“Just leave me alone.”

“Dude, come on,” Jensen says in a pleading tone as he follows Jared around. “I was out of line before. I’m sorry!” Jared stops so abruptly that Jensen clatters straight into him. He turns around to stop Jensen from falling and ends with an armful of warm, muscled—and seriously, Jared needs to work on this whole getting easily distracted thing.

“Whatever,” Jared says haughtily. “You only want to talk to me now because everyone else knows about what you’ve been up to.”

“No!” Jensen starts to protest before he seems to stop and visibly shrug it off. “Okay, so yeah. But you’re the only one not judging me over the whole—”

“Lying to everyone you know about being some fancy hot-shot lawyer in New York and only showing your face back in town when you’re in the red?” Jared adds helpfully and Jensen glares at him.

“Yes, that,” he says tersely. Jared just grins at him as he shakes his head.

“Fine, I’ll hang out with you,” he says.

“We can do  _more_  than hang out.”

By the time Jared takes his seat, his suit is a little worse for wear and his hair’s a mess. But he’s fucking starving so he doesn’t care. At least not until he realises that he’s seated with his family.

“You could have warned me,” Jensen hisses from Jared’s right where he’d just plopped down, not caring that there’d actually been a seating system.

“Dude, past my stomach crying for mercy and what we were, uh,  _doing_  I could barely think straight let alone remember that I was seated with my darling family,” Jared murmurs in response. “Just smile and be nice, it’ll be fine.”

It’s not fine.

“So,” is how Jared’s mother starts the conversation just as he’s eating his canapé. It’s a mini-steak sandwich, and it’s not like it’s going to fill him up but still. “How is it that you two know each other?” Jared fights back the urge to roll his eyes as he turns to look at Jensen. Jensen winks at him and Jared just turns away as he tries to think of answer. Or at least not get completely side-tracked by the way Jensen’s mouth looks all red and swollen and  _hot_.

So he’s a little thrown when Jensen says, “Actually we’ve been dating for a few months now.”

_What?_

Jared looks at his mother’s gobsmacked face and stifles a laugh.  _What the hell?_  He thinks as he nods.

“Yeah, I was going to tell you but I was preoccupied with the house sale and moving back down here.” His mother doesn’t even blink as she looks at him suspiciously. Jared’s dad clears his throat then after he takes a sip of his water.

“What your mother wants to say is that we accept your choices, son.”

“Sure, we accept the fact that he’s supposedly dating a chronic liar whose parents were stupid enough to believe him.”

There’s a hush as everyone at the table looks away awkwardly and Jared rushes to fill the silence.

“Thanks Dad,” He says as he beams at his mother’s stony face.  “I mean, you two used to speak so highly of Jensen that when I bumped into him in New York, I just had to invite him for a drink, and then one thing lead to another and—”

“Yeah, I think we get the picture,” his sister says without even looking up from her Blackberry. Before anyone else can say anything their main course arrives and Jared gets distracted by his tender beef brisket with caramelized onion jus. There’s a comfortable silence as they eat before his mother drops her fork.

“You’re not joking?” she says. “You’re seriously with Jensen Ackles?”

“Uh, yes?” Jared says.

“You don’t sound very sure.”

Jared tries hard not to gape at her because, well, he’s generally a horrible liar but still.

“It’s okay, babe,” Jensen says as he snakes a hand across the table and rests it on top of Jared’s. “We don’t have to hide anymore.”  _Oh, Jensen is so dead._

“It’s true,” he says eventually, “It just…happened.” His mother pulls a face and immediately proceeds to down the rest of her wine.

It’s later on in the day, when Jensen excuses them from the table, that Jared finally gets a chance to breathe again. Jensen bursts into laughter as they stand on the outskirts of the dance floor. Jared glares at him angrily.

“Dude, it’s not funny,” he says but Jensen turns and is suddenly occupied by something else. Jared looks around to see what it is and finds himself staring at a table heaped with presents. Or rather  _four_  tables shoved together that are all heaped with presents. He whistles under his breath.

“Oh to be rich,” Jensen murmurs.

“Uh, aren’t your parents rich?” Jared asks. Jensen turns to give him an annoyed look and Jared wants to scoff. If anyone should be annoyed here it’s  _him_.

“That’s not the point,” Jensen replies. “They are and I’m not.”

“Hey, well you can always get married,” Jared jokes. He doesn’t see the light that hits Jensen eyes as he carries on talking. “I’m sure that all of the Welling’s other rich buddies have given them checks for God knows how much. It’s like rich people code or something.”

“Jared, you’re a genius!” Jensen exclaims as he grabs Jared and kisses him right there. Jared doesn’t respond to it, because he’s officially weirded out. He can already tell that what Jensen’s about to say will not be good.

“Uh...”

“We can get married!” Jensen says. “Think about it, you need money, I need money. Pretty much everyone here would show up because of my parents and we could just sell everything. You can fix up your house and I can pay off my debt.”

“This…this is just great,” Jared says as he starts to walk away. There’s chattering and cheering in the distance and the sounds of bottles clinking and Jared desperately wishes that he was back at the table getting drunk. He feels rather than sees Jensen following after him as he’s continuing his tirade. “My last boyfriend cheated on me with the janitor of the school I worked at. The second-to-last guy I hooked up with woke up drunk at 4am and decided to use me a punching bag—”

“Does this guy have a name?” Jensen interrupts. “’Cause I know people, they can sort him out.”

“—and the last guy apparently knows people who are willing to beat up other people,” Jared finishes once Jensen’s done talking. “My life is perfect.”

Three days after the wedding Jared finds himself on his ratty couch with his old laptop perched on his knees. His eyes, however, are definitely not on the screen. He's in full-on panic mode and he revisits the events of the past three days over and over. His parents think that he's dating Jensen. The same Jensen who wants to fake-marry him. That's not even the worst part though. There's a little masochistic part of Jared that's actually looking forward to this - for the fun of it. He wants to experience the thrill and excitement of lying and sneaking around. If anything it just reinforces the fact that Jared leads a pathetic existence. Mostly because he actually likes Jensen Ackles.

 

Jensen's kind of like a siren, Jared notes to himself. One who's taking over his mind and soul and okay, so maybe Jared's being a tad overdramatic here. Even so he's been trying to convince himself to put a stop to this before it escalates and gets out of hand. All he has to do is tell Jensen that they can't do this because he’s a shitty liar. There's no way he'd be able to keep his mouth shut until their wedding day. Jared hates the way his heart pangs at those words. That's another reason too. This crush he has on Jensen would only fuck things up right? He can just continue searching for a job and borrow money from his parents. Easier said than done, but after hours of pleading and a few strategically timed puppy dog expressions they'll say yes just to get him to shut up.

 

Of course he'll suffer for the next fear years when his mother spends the entire time reminding him of how much he's screwed up her life.  Fuck. As he sulks to himself on the couch, his stomach grumbles loudly. The sound echoes off the bare walls. Jared sighs to himself. The only thing worse than living in the worst house in existence is living in it alone. He's bored and restless here; most of his friends are in New York. And he really doesn't want to hang out with Mark Hayworth from his old Sunday School class. By hang out Mark had meant "attend a prayer meeting." Jared had deleted that Facebook message very quickly. He's thought about maybe getting dogs but he just would not be able to look after them. He can barely feed himself let alone two mutts.

Speaking of food, Jared's stomach grumbles again and he shuts his laptop and goes in search of his sneakers. He has $20 on him; it should be enough for some basic groceries. Of course he walks smack bang into Jensen as he's strolling down the gravelled pathway leading from his door. As pain momentarily blinds him, he stumbles backwards, opening an eye to squint up at Jensen. He looks good. He's wearing a black, long sleeved Henley and tight fitting blue jeans. And seriously? Jared's kind of proud of his choice in fake boyfriend. When he straightens up, he's catches Jensen smirking at him. His vibrant, green eyes twinkle as he chuckles softly and shakes his head.

"Hi," Jared says lamely. Jensen smiles as he turns around and hooks his arm into Jared's so that they're linked together. For a second Jared can't breathe as Jensen's scent invades his senses and he just stands there silently.

"Well, hello there, boyfriend." Jensen starts to walk and he pulls Jared along with him. Jared blinks at him blankly, his mind little dazed from the wave of lust that just crashed into him. "Come help me bring my stuff inside." That snaps Jared out of his trance pretty darn quickly.

"What?"

"I'm moving in," Jensen says, likes it's the most obvious thing in the world. Jared yanks his arm back and glares at Jensen.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jared's annoyed because this is his home. There was no mention of living together when Jensen came up with this stupid plan. Plus he's fucking starving. Couldn't Jensen have waited for a couple of hours?

They’re in the cereal aisle when Jared’s cell goes off. He sighs as he sees the caller ID and presses ‘accept.’

“Jared?” his mother’s voice sounds into his ear and he wonders who else would be answering his phone.

“Nope. You’ve reached Clark Kent,” he says purely to gauge her mood. Jensen is frowning at him as he wanders back over and drops a box of Fruit Loops into the basket.

“Don’t sass me boy,” his mom says with amusement colouring her voice. So she’s in a good mood then. “I was wondering if you and….Jensen would like to come over for dinner.” Jared sighs deeply as he imagines how much fun her third degree is going to be.

Sometimes he hates his life.

They met in New York, somewhere in Manhattan (even though Jared had taught, lived and generally never veered out of Yonkers). Jared was playing pool, beating everyone who stepped up to compete with him. Eventually Jensen showed up and—

“We met in a bar in New York is as far as we need to go,” Jared interjects before Jensen manages to make the whole thing sound like some sort of cheesy, chick-lit novel. “Too many details will just make us sound suspicious.” Jensen merely nods and amends whatever he’s been writing in his small notebook. His brow is furrowed in concentration and Jared tries to stop himself blurting something out loud about how cute it is. Damn his brain and treacherous libido.

“Hey, what’s your favourite band?” Jensen asks as he chews on the end of his pen.

“Coldplay.”

“Get the fuck out,” Jensen says and Jared lights up.

“They’re yours too?”

“Fuck no,” Jensen replies with something akin to disgust in his voice. “I hate them. But this is good. We can’t agree on everything all the time.” They’re back at Jared’s under-furnished house, squashed together on his shitty couch. Jared may or may not be aroused at the moment. Despite that, he’s glad that he’s not alone for once. He hums in contentment as he goes back to watching 16 And Pregnant. His TV signal’s been all screwed up since he moved in and all he can get is MTV. He’s tried cancelling his cable subscription but he keeps on ending up being put on hold. There’s only so many times Jared can listen to some inane Katy Perry song being forced on him. Even so, there’s something kind of compelling about this show. Being a teacher and all, it might be good for future experiences. Jensen seems to note his disinterest in their “fact checking” and he tosses the notebook onto the table. For a few minutes they watch as Amy or Amber bitches about how her boyfriend’s always AWOL.

Jared tries hard not to judge, he really does.

It’s not really a difficult task when all he’s really thinking about is how much he wants Jensen to kiss him. It’s a dangerous thought, but Jared can’t help it. Hell, the only reason he can’t say no to this ridiculous plan is because it’d mean that he was saying no to Jensen. It’s pathetic but Jared doesn’t even care anymore.

“Wanna make out?” Jensen asks suddenly and Jared’s eyes widen as he turns to stare at Jensen. “You know, as  _practice_.” Jared doesn’t really need to be asked twice. He’s not sure that Jensen really had  _rutting against each other shirtlessly_  in mind. Even so he can’t stop himself from rubbing his hands all over Jensen’s smooth, bare chest as Jensen bites at his neck softly and Jared just  _wants_. Jared knows that he should probably put an end to his but Jensen’s lips capture his once more, he just can’t bring himself to. Jensen is intoxicating and Jared just can’t get enough.

 

He’s so screwed.

 

Before they head out to his parents for dinner, he can’t help voicing his concern. It’s not like he doesn’t like making out with Jensen or anything. But Jared doesn’t do casual relationships. They’re too messy and they’re too dangerous. This whole fake-fiancé-with-benefits thing he has with Jensen is both messy and very dangerous. Maybe it’s the whole teacher thing, but the only logical course of action is a discussion. All Jared has to do is express his concerns in a clear and concise manner.

“What happens if we…you know, if this starts to get real?” Jared asks, sighing to himself. Well, semi-coherent is better than nothing. Jensen snorts and Jared feels his face flush a little.

“I’m not going to fall in love with you, man. Love is for fools.” Jensen looks up from where he’s fixing up his tie. “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

Jared’s not sure why the reassured smile on his face feels so stiff.

Jensen picks the moment right before they’re about to get out of the car to say, “Wait!”

Jared sighs impatiently as Jensen starts rifling through the glove compartment. They’re already three minutes late. Which might seem like nothing but this is his mother they’re talking about. She’s probably standing by the clock, taking note of each second.

“Here,” Jensen hands Jared a small, black jewellery box. It’s already open and Jared stares down at the rings encased by the box in shock. Jensen shuts the glove compartment, leans over and grabs his ring and slips it onto his finger. Jared is still trying to process the whole thing, however.

“Where did you get these?” he asks in disbelief. Rings had never even occurred to him, plus how did Jensen even afford them? Jared’s no expert, but they certainly look real.

“Friend of a friend,” Jensen says cryptically. “I figure that we can sell them in a couple of months once everything is over.” Jared hates the way that his heart trips up at the word over.

“Come on, put it on and let’s get this over with.” Jensen sounds a little annoyed and Jared just looks down at the ring lying on his palm. He’s really not sure if he’s even cut out for this. Yet, that reckless, stubborn part of himself is urging him to put the fucking ring on already. Still, Jared prides himself on being practical and straight thinking.

“Look, are we sure that we want to do this? Couldn’t we just, you know, look for jobs like  _normal_  people do? We’ll find something eventually!”

Jensen’s silent for a moment as something flickers in his eyes. Before Jared can decipher it Jensen speaks up.

“Dude,  _come on_!” He says. “Lighten up, have some fun. I mean Tom got a holiday to the Bahamas from the freaking bridge club. It’s not like our families and their friends can’t afford it. And once it’s all over we can get jobs and live normal, boring lives!”

“I’m hoping that they send us to Barbados instead,” Jared jokes as he attempts to relieve the tension that he caused.

Jensen doesn’t even crack a smile, he just shrugs and says, “If you want to call it quits, then just say so, Jared. I can sort myself out – I have a friend back in Manhattan that I can stay with.” And for some ungodly reason, Jared’s heart practically stops at the thought of Jensen leaving. He slides the ring onto his finger without any comment.

He’s surprised to find that it fits perfectly.

“You’re late,” is the first thing Jared’s mom says as she ushers them into the house. Her tone sounds frostier than usual but Jared puts it down to residual anger (or shame) from Tom’s wedding. She’s still pissed over the fact that he’s supposedly dating Jensen. He grits his teeth, and doesn’t mention the fact that a few months ago she thought that Jensen was perfect. It’s a rather grand house – not the same one that he grew up in. No, his Dad hit it big just after Jared’s eighteenth birthday. Sold his publishing company to some giant corporation and took up golf even though baseball was more his thing. As his mother directs them into the dining room, he tries not to show his disdain at the décor. His mother’s transition from middle class to upper class hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. She’s still at that ‘buying ugly, expensive things’ phase. Every time Jared brings it up, his dad just laughs.

Jared tends to worry about his Dad a lot.

Jensen is working his charm in full force, Jared notices as he observes his mother doing her best not to beam up at him. He’d apologised profusely when they got here and even held out his mother’s seat before she’d sat down. Bastard. Jared grits his teeth as Jensen gives her a gracious smile. How is it that after everything she _still_  likes Jensen Ackles better than her own son? He huffs when Jensen gives him a lewd wink as his mother calls over one of the servers. Jared watches as his Dad just chuckles to himself and he frowns. It’s then that he notices the half empty wine glass by his Dad’s side. He can’t really blame the man.

“Is your dad okay?” Jensen whispers and Jared turns to him, surprised to see actual concern in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he replies. “I think he’s a little tipsy.” Jensen just chuckles in response.

Dinner is…okay, so Jared doesn’t actually know what the hell dinner  _is_. It’s definitely not snails because that’s an experience that Jared will never forget. But it tastes good and he trusts that his parents wouldn’t employ people who’d deliberately poison him. Also, Jensen keeps on making these low hums of contentment and Jared’s basically five seconds away from begging someone for the recipe. As they eat they make small talk – they being mostly Jensen and Jared’s mom. His dad rolls his eyes at them and Jared stifles a laugh. Sometimes he wonders how his Dad does it, how he puts up with his mother. But he always comes to the conclusion that he’s just stupidly in love with her. It makes him think, he’s always wanted what his parents have. He wanted to get married, to have kids and…now he’s on the brink of getting fake married.

Before he can get too deep into his thoughts, Jensen clears his throat and says, “Actually, we have something to tell you.” That’s supposed to be Jared’s cue but for some reason, all he can do is sit there blankly. After a few seconds of stilted silence, Jensen kicks Jared under the table and gives him a strained smile. Jared glares at him as he reaches down and rubs his shin a little.

“We’re, uh. We’re getting married!” he says weakly. There’s another awkward silence until his dad bursts into a fit of raucous laughter. It’s pretty much his Dad’s standard reaction to anything when he’s had wine so Jared ignores him while Jensen grins and mouths, “ _I love your Dad_.”

His mother’s reaction is not as jovial.

She puts her fork down slowly as she frowns and then she looks down at Jared’s hands. Her mouth falls open. After a small fit of blinking she turns to glare at her husband. The laughter soon stops. Jensen, ever the smartass, just keeps the conversation moving along before it can get awkward again.

“We were thinking that we wanted everything finalised in a month or so. When you find your soul mate you just don’t want to wait. I mean, who needs long engagements, right?” He turns to smile sweetly at Jared.

“My husband and I were engaged for a year,” Jared’s mom says stiffly. Jensen’s smile falters a little.

“Obviously we’d let you plan the whole thing, Carrie. I’ve heard wonderful things about your planning skills.” Jared tries not to crack up when his Dad mouths  _bullshit_  at him. He’s pretty sure that his Dad still thinks that this is all one elaborate joke. Oh, if only he knew.

“It’s Mrs Padalecki to you,” she says though her tone is definitely lighter. “And you do realise that you can’t actually get married in Texas, don’t you?”

“We’re aware of that obviously,” Jensen says with a feigned, sad look. If Jared didn’t know Jensen better he’d be looking as sheepish as his mom does right now.

Wait a minute, Jared says to himself.  _I_  don’t even know Jensen that well!

“We want to hold a ceremony here for friends and family, and then we’ll get married up in New York. Just the two of us.” Jared decides that speaking up now is much better than arguing with himself inside his head. He needs to maintain some order here, dammit. The getting married in New York is the one thing that he and Jensen have fully agreed on. Actually getting married would be a step too far, obviously. Short of following them to New York, no will know if they ever make it official. Jared hates that there’s a tiny part of him upset over the fact that he really will only be fake-married to Jensen.

“Sounds fair,” Jared’s dad says as he takes a sip of wine. “You can call me Gary, though. I’m totally the cool parent here.” Before Jared can really start to feel mortified his mother pipes up again.

“There’s something weird about all of this,” Jared’s mom says finally. “I mean, I’m glad that you’re finally settling down but…” As she trails off she peers at him closely. Like the truth is written on his forehead or something.

“Well, I’m not pregnant!” Jared jokes and she glares at him.

“But darling,” Jensen says mockingly in a horrible fake, English accent. “You’d look so dashing with a pregnant glow on you!” Jared snorts, his answer thwarted by his Dad’s loud hearty chuckle.

“I’m not sure why, but I’d picture Jensen as the pregnant one.” Jared feels his face heat up as his father’s words register. Jensen looks a little shocked for a split second before he breaks out into a fit of laughter along with Gary. Jared’s kind of in love with Jensen’s laugh and he finds himself joining them.

His mother simply sighs and drains her wine glass.    


	2. Chapter 2

  
  
Jensen’s mom – Diane – is much more understanding it seems. She can’t seem to stop squeezing Jared’s cheeks and smiling at Jensen after they break the news to her.  
  
As they leave Jensen’s parents’ house, Jared can’t help asking, “How is that you lied about your degree and life for years and yet your parents are far more relaxed than mine?”  
  
“They’re still trying to figure out where they went wrong,” Jensen says with a wry smile. “I’m sure things will implode soon enough.” They’re heading back to Jared’s house for the evening and Jared can’t help being a little worried. He has a job interview the next day and also an appointment with his Mom so they can pick out colour schemes and invitations. It brings up another question and he can’t help asking that one too.  
  
“Is it really fair of us to expect our parents to pay for the wedding and then shell out even more cash on gifts?”  
  
“It’s not like they can’t afford it,” Jensen says with a shrug.  
  
“Yeah, but…” Jared trails off, unable to finish his sentence, as Jensen huffs out a laugh. He gives Jared a strange smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Come on, between the two of us I’m sure we can figure something out.” Jensen gives him a weird look and Jared frowns and responds with his own questioning expression.  
  
“Just….don’t ever change okay?” Jensen doesn’t bother to explain what he means and Jared doesn’t answer.

  


  
Seeing as how he can’t even afford gas right now, Jared takes a shortcut down some dodgy alleyway on his way home. Jensen had vanished in the wee hours of the morning and Jared ended up walking to his interview. He’s in the sleazy part of town and he finds himself gripping his phone tightly in his jacket pocket as he walks briskly. He’s halfway down the alley when he hears a noise and he jumps back in fear.  _It’s 11-fucking-am, calm down Padalecki_  he says to himself as he realises that maybe he’s being a bit overdramatic. He hears the noise again and realises that it’s someone groaning and his instincts to help whoever it is kick in. And really, he hopes he doesn’t his ass kicked because it really would be a shitty start to his already shit day.  
  
He walks back down to where the groaning is coming from and spots someone in a heap by the dumpster. It freaking stinks but the guy looks like he’s in real pain so Jared refrains from saying anything.  
  
“Uh, are you okay?” he asks as he peers down at the guy who has purple blood dripping down from his nose and a busted lip.  
  
“Do I  _look_  okay to you?” the person says and Jared raises an eyebrow because geez, he was just trying to be friendly. Jared then he gets a good look at the guy, spots a pair of green eyes that he is all too familiar with and his mouth falls open.  
  
“Jensen? Dude, what the hell happened to you?”  
  
“Just help me up please, and let’s go home.” Jared sighs as he starts to comply.  
  


  
  
  
Jensen flinches as Jared applies more iodine to the cut under his eye. He’s barely said a word and Jared’s voice is practically hoarse from asking them. He’s not sure where the sudden wave of tiredness comes from, but it hits him like a freight train. He doesn’t know anything about Jensen, not really, whereas Jensen knows all about him. It’s not fair. Especially when Jared can basically admit that he’s going through all of this for Jensen. There’s something there, something in Jensen that Jared really likes. But he has a feeling that he’s going to get hurt if he doesn’t put a stop to his while he still can. All he wants is the truth, or it’s over. He’ll swallow his pride and ask his parents for a hand out if he needs to.  
  
“What happened?” Jared tries again, his hand slowly stroking the side of Jensen’s face. Jensen leans into the touch for a few seconds before he pulls back. There’s a stormy look in his eyes that even now, with all of this friction between them, Jared still finds mesmerizing. For a moment they just stare at each other until Jensen looks away, sighing heavily as he flops backwards on the couch.  
  
“It’s not that important.”  
  
“Not that—I found you beaten to a pulp in a dingy alleyway! Don’t give me that bullshit,” Jared snaps. “Fucking give me a straight answer or you can get the fuck out now.” Jensen starts to smile until he realises that Jared’s being serious and it melts away.  
  
“Look, I got in with some bad people last year, I was drinking all night. Thought I was a big guy. Ended up in this high end poker game,” He pauses as he looks at Jared, who does his best to keep his expression neutral. “I lost obviously, but the guy I lost to is part of the fucking mob or something.”  
  
“Define ‘part of,’” Jared replies.  
  
“Like, he’s the leader’s second cousin five times removed or something.” Jensen says it easily, like discussing the fucking mob isn’t a big deal or anything. Jared pinches the bridge of his nose.  
  
“And how much do you owe him?”  
  
“12 grand, I’ve paid him off some of what I owe but he’s getting antsy. He sent his friends here to give me a reminder. Fucking jackass.”  
  
“No,  _you’re_ the jackass!” Jared’s furious, he really is. But there’s a bigger part of him that’s  _worried_ for Jensen. “I can’t believe you’ve dragged me into this.” Jensen’s face softens then and that weird look is back on his face. Jared ignores it as he stands up and starts to pace. They need a solution and fast.  
  
“I can get you some money,” Jared says quietly. “I have a friend who’s pretty well off. Pretty sure he’d give me whatever I asked.”  _So why didn’t you ask him in the first place?_ That’s the question on Jensen’s face and the question in Jared’s mind.  
  
“No.”  
  
“Look, I wouldn’t even make you pay him back. I’d pay him back every penny myself,” Jared pleads. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” There’s a slight quiver in his voice as he speaks and Jensen’s gaze sharpens. He looks like he wants to say something but he doesn’t. He just sits there and looks at Jared. At one point Jared’s sure that he sees guilt passing through his eyes. But he can’t be sure. It hits him again the fact he doesn’t even really knows Jensen.  
  
“Maybe we should call this quits,” Jensen says with a heavy sigh. “I mean, I don’t want you to get hurt either. This is my mess and…I got you into this.”  
  
“No, the asshole who stole my stuff got me into this mess,” Jared says comfortingly because for whatever messed up reason, he hates the self-depreciating tone of Jensen’s voice. “And we’re both going to get fake married and help each other of all of this, okay? I’m not backing out now.” Jensen’s gaze zeroes in on his once again and Jared can’t help the way his heart starts to beat a little faster. He always does this; he always falls hard for guys who eventually end up letting him down. But this thing he has with Jensen feels different somehow. Maybe Jared’s just kidding himself, or projecting with his libido. He doesn’t know.  
  
“You know, your ex is an idiot,” Jensen says and Jared’s eyes widen. He’s surprised that Jensen even remembers him mentioning that.  
  
“Yeah he was,” Jared says with a snort.  
  
“No I mean…I don’t understand how anyone could let someone like  _you_  slip away,” Jensen explains. “Guess he didn’t know how amazing you are.”  
  
And really, Jensen can’t just say something like that without Jared reacting somehow. One kiss becomes two; two becomes three and so on. Jared barely even remembers that they’re not doing this for real.  
  


  
Jared wakes up the next morning with his long arms wrapped around Jensen’s naked torso. He exhales deeply as he plays back the events of the previous day. Sure they’ve slept together before but  _still_. All of this is seriously messing around with Jared’s head. There’s no way the can justify spending the better part of the day frolicking around with his soon to be fake-husband _after_  finding him lying in a freaking alleyway. With another sigh, he detaches himself from Jensen and goes to grab a shower. By the time he’s done, Jensen’s sitting up with his back against the headboard. Jared’s breath catches in his throat for a moment, but he does his best to push the feeling down. His eyes can’t help slipping down and observing Jensen’s pale, caramel coloured freckled skin though and he mentally berates himself for the hundredth time.  
  
“Is this awkward?” Jensen asks, his voice still thick with sleep. He’s got a small cut above his left eye and his nose is a little red. Other than that, his face looks okay. Jared idly wonders if it still hurts. He hadn’t exactly been able to contain himself when they’d been fucking. “I can leave if you want.”  _Awkward doesn’t even cover it,_  Jared thinks as he reaches into his closet to grab his blow dryer.  
  
“My mom called, said we have to get over to her house for some planning!” he ignores Jensen’s question as he fiddles with the power cord and plugs it into the wall.  
  
“Dude, you  _blow dry_  your hair?” is all Jensen says before Jared hits the power button.  
  


  
Jared manages to sort out the catering by lunch time. Mark – the over-enthusiastic friend on Facebook – had once been Mark, egotistical bully. It’s not something that Jared likes to think about but, well, Mark is more than willing to do the catering free of charge once Jared mentions that he’s finally free of the way Mark had made him feel back when they were kids. He’s all apologetic and accommodating and Jared tries his best not to crack up.  
  
“Oh and we’d like a six tier wedding cake,” he says as he’s leaving Mark’s office.  
  
Jensen’s waiting for him outside and he smiles when he sees Jared. Jared does his best to smile back but he can tell that it’s forced and strained so he stops. Jensen’s smile falters and then vanishes all together and he joins Jared as they start to walk. Jensen’s car had been taken by that thug yesterday so they’ve been trudging around town on foot. Jared hates his life.  
  
“How did you get on?” he asks and Jensen’s blinding smile is back.  
  
“We now have a DJ and wait staff and I’m almost there with the decoration company, even though the lady claims that I turned her down in high school.”  
  
“Did you explain to her that she just didn’t have the right appendages?”  
  
“I offered to freakin’ take her out today,” Jensen replies. Jared pretends that he doesn’t feel a twinge of jealousy in his chest. “I’ll have her on board by the end of the day.”  
  
“You know my mom’s pissed that we’re not spending thousands of dollars on this shit,” Jared says, quickly changing the subject before he gets mad and starts screaming at Jensen. “Like, she was talking about  _ice sculptures_  and  _fountains_ , it’s crazy.”  
  
“Mothers,” Jensen says in exasperation. “My Dad keeps on drawing me up different pre-nups. Maybe it’s a lawyer thing, but a pre-nup for the 3.98 that I have in my checking account is ridiculous.”  
  
It’s a joke, Jared can tell but for some reason his elation at sorting out the catering fizzles out. Jensen keeps on trying to talk to him but eventually gives up when Jared keeps on giving him non-committal answers.  
  


  
It’s not that Jared’s angry at Jensen because they keep falling into bed with each other, he’s pissed at  _himself_. He’s the kind of guy who likes to take his relationships slowly. Jared likes to spend a few weeks making out, learning about the other guy and just  _being_  with him. Yet with Jensen, the attraction and sex had been instant. And it’s pretty much the best sex that Jared’s ever fucking had which just screws him up even more. Maybe his relationships would work out better if he wasn’t such a tight ass. Figuratively that is. That’s not even the worst part, it’s like everything’s happening faster than usual. Instead of the slow, steady build-up of love in his chest, it’s like someone’s thrown a brick at him. He can’t think when Jensen’s around, can’t breathe, can’t reason, can’t do  _anything._ Just the mere thought of putting a stop to this now makes him want to cry because he wants to cherish every single fucking fake moment.  
  
Jared thinks that he might be a little bit in love with Jensen.  
  


  
“I was working as a paralegal at some upscale firm,” Jensen starts talking randomly as he picks at the label on his beer bottle. Jared blinks a little as he tries to snap out of the daze that he’s been in since they got back from his parent’s house. His mom is driving him nuts. She keeps on insisting that he and Jensen not see each other in their tuxes while giving them about a thousand different ones to try on. The tailor, Jacques, spent most of the afternoon with his head in his hands. Of course Jared maybe didn’t help matters what with him not really talking to Jensen and all. _It’s only natural;_ his mom had chimed in helpfully when she’d noticed that he wasn’t speaking much. He’d rolled his eyes and ignored her, much to her chagrin. But then she spotted Jensen’s face and a new wave of drama had broken out. They’d managed to give her some crappy, made up story and she believed it.  
  
Jared realises then that Jensen’s watching him and he offers him a small smile, not really trusting himself to speak.  
  
“Look, I’m not good at friendships or relationships and I don’t know what I did to upset you but…I don’t like seeing you like this,” Jensen stutters a little which is unusual for him. “So, what did I do? Was it the sex? Was it bad? Or…”  
  
“God, no,” Jared says as he shakes his head vigorously. “It’s nothing to do with you, I was just…just wondering why it is that nothing ever seems to work out for me. It’s just some emo, angsty bullshit. I’ll be alright tomorrow.”  
  
“Good,” Jensen says. “Now like I was saying, I worked at an upscale firm as a paralegal. I was preparing to take my LSAT, because you know that’s what I was supposed to do. As the date drew closer, I realised that I’d never wanted to be a lawyer. At the time, I was kind of blindsided. Felt as though I was letting my parents down.”  
  
“So you lied about it?” Jared cuts in. Truth be told, he’s not really sure what’s prompted this revelation but there’s a part of him that’s happy. Happy that Jensen actually trusts him enough to tell him. It’s pathetic but Jared’s willing to take whatever he can get.  
  
“Damn right, I lied about it. You’ve met my father, you can see how...intense he is.”  
  
Jared doesn’t say anything because he hasn’t seen that. It doesn’t mean that what Jensen’s saying isn’t true though. “I felt bad about it and all, but they were so proud of me. I’d been in my brother’s shadow for most of my life and finally they were happy about something I’d done. It felt good at first. But then it got a little too much. I dropped out of the firm, got some weird courier job. Partied too much and I lost it eventually. I just screwed my life up.”  
  
“So what made you come clean?”  
  
“The guy I owed money to somehow found out about the whole thing,” Jensen says with a cold smile. “He threatened to tell my brother. I figured that I’d beat him to it. It’s not like he was going to get his money any faster.”  
  
“Huh,” Jared murmurs when he realises that Jensen’s done. “Thanks for telling me.”  
  
“Thanks for listening,” Jensen says with a genuine smile and Jared hates the way that his heart practically lurches in his chest.  
  
“That’s what friends are for,” he practically chokes out before he stands up to get himself a glass of water.  
  


  
A few days later Jared wakes up to a scathing voicemail from his best friend Chad, furious at the fact that Jared failed to mention the fact that he was  _engaged_. Jared pretty much panics right there and then. He’s pretty sure that Chad’s supposed to be in Japan or something, for the advertising agency he works with. Chad being in Texas means that their chances of being found out has increased by like, twenty percent.  
  
So when Chad shows up at Jared’s front door, Jared is equally relieved and worried. On one hand, he’s pretty sure that he can trust Chad enough to confide in him. On the other, Chad’s probably still going to be pissed that Jared hasn’t even gotten around to calling him yet. Unfortunately for Jared, it’s the latter. Jensen’s the one to open door and Jared watches from the couch as Chad pushes past him and practically storms into the living room. As he reaches the doorway, some of the cracked paint from the ceiling sprinkles down into Chad’s hair. Jared bites his lip to stop himself from laughing. He watches as Chad observes the room. It’s not the most enticing room, Jared supposes, though he’s used to it now.  
  
This is a fact that leaves him feeling very sad.  
  
Jensen looks at Jared and mouths,  _who the fuck is this guy?_  But before Jared can answer, Chad turns to him with his eyes narrowed.  
  
“Is this him?” he jabs his thumb in Jensen’s direction, not seeming to notice the close proximity of his hand to Jensen’s face. “The fiancé?” Jared nods and Chad turns to face Jensen.  
  
“Let’s go talk,” he says before he turns back to Jared. “Don’t try and run away while I’m talking to lover boy here. You know that I’ll only hunt you down.”  
  


  
Half an hour later Jensen returns with a fake smile plastered onto his face. Jensen gives his head a small shake and Jared knows that it’s his way of saying that he hadn’t told Chad the truth. Jared can’t help the small smile that forms on his face at their inner conversation.  
  
“I don’t have all day,” Chad says loudly, glaring at Jared as he points at the door. When they get outside, there’s a beat until Chad throws his arms around Jared and squeezes him gently.  
  
“How’re you holding up?” his best friend says softly and Jared wonders what the hell he’s talking about. “The break up? Oh and the move as well obviously, but mostly the break up. Last time you got dumped, you spent all your free time holed up in bed, watching  _One Tree Hill_  and making yourself sick by inhaling copious tubs of cookie dough ice cream.”  
  
“Gee, when you put it like that…” Jared huffs out a laugh, “I’m fine. I mean, being with Jensen makes me happy.”  
  
“Dude, don’t even,” Chad says. “There’s no way in hell that you’re really getting married to that guy. I went to school with you, doofus; I know who Jensen Ackles is.”  
  
“Crap,” Jared says. “Okay  _fine_ , so we’re both short of cash at the moment and we, you know, found each other. We were at this wedding and Jensen just came up with the idea.”  
  
“You’re getting married in order to make money?” Chad says dubiously, as he raises one of his eyebrows.  
  
“We saw all the gifts at Tom’s wedding and figured that if we got even half as much as that, we could sell it all and you know, use it to pay off our debts or buy what we need.”  
  
“Jared, I know that you’re not  _that_  stupid. It was his plan wasn’t it?”  
  
Jared nods meekly. “Are you gonna rat?”  
  
“What?” Chad seems genuinely surprised at the question, like the thought had never even occurred to him. “It’s not my business man. Well it is, but I’m not going to tell anyone. You’re going to come to your senses and put an end to this.”  
  
“Bu—”  
  
“Look, I get it. You’ve always had a thing for Jensen, this is like all of your wildest dreams coming true. Wise up, Jared. You’re only going to get hurt,” Chad says, his voice low and serious. Jared finds himself stuck on  _you’ve always had a thing for Jensen._  This is news to him. He must say something out loud because Chad snorts loudly.  
  
“You’re kidding, right?” Chad says in despair as he moves down the sidewalk a little and sits on the small wall outside Jared’s house. Jared kind of hates how the stupid wall is more stable than pretty much all of the infrastructure of his house. “Back when we were in eighth grade, he gave you a ride home because your brother was busy and you spent the next two weeks going on about him. Once he graduated, it was all, “Did you know that Jensen was back home this weekend?” and “Man, he must really be enjoying it up in New York and just…I mean, remember that diary writing assignment we got in English that one time?” Jared has to think about it, but the memory quickly springs to the forefront of his mind and he feels his face heating up.  
  
“How do you even  _remember_  that?” he says, coughing to try and hide his embarrassment.  
  
“I’m your best friend, man. I gotta have a bunch of embarrassing stories about you in my collection.”  
  
“I don’t have a thing for Jensen,” Jared says quickly. “I mean, I got over it after high school.”  
  
“Maybe you did,” Chad says. “But I saw the way that you were looking at each other. Like I said man, just be careful.”  
  


  
“Pictures,” Chad says in between mouthfuls of pizza. Jared barely conceals a laugh as Jensen shoots him a perturbed look over the top of Chad’s head. The three of them are sitting on Jared’s ratty sofa, watching  _Awkward_  on MTV because it’s still the only channel that Jared gets. He’s kind of wary of calling the cable company because he hasn’t even paid his bill for this month yet. Chad’s squashed between him and Jensen on the small couch. They can’t really complain, Chad paid for the pizza, but still. It feels like he’s intruding somehow and Jared does his best to quash that.  
  
“Pictures?” Jensen echoes and Chad nods before leaning forwards to take a swig of his beer. He leans back and lets out a loud belch and Jared winces.  
  
“You’re disgusting,” he says and Chad just grins at him goofily. Jensen just gives Chad an unimpressed look before repeating himself.  
  
“There are none of you two in this place,” Chad explains. “It wouldn’t be a problem if Jared didn’t have a ton up all over the horrible walls.”  
  
Well, there’s only so much Jared can do to cover up cracked walls. It was either the pictures or the old  _Baywatch_  posters that his brother gave him that one year.  
  
“And, seeing as how Carrie mentioned something about surprising you with homemade dinner here tomorrow night, you might want to do something about it.”  
  
“Homemade?” Jared says just as Jensen says, “How come she lets you call her Carrie?”  
  
Chad swivels his head around so he can look at the two of them. He shrugs and goes back to drinking his beer. With an eye roll Jared turns to Jensen and gives him a look that says  _he’s right_. Jensen nods and then shoots Jared back a look that says  _so what do we do?_  Jared remembers then that neither of them had organised a photographer anyway.  
  
“My cousin offered to do it,” Jensen says out loud. “But we still need someone who can take a couple of shots that we can use.”  
  
“I have  _Photoshop_  and an old digital camera,” Jared replies. “I’m sure Chad will help us out. We can’t afford a photographer right now.” Jared turns to look at Chad who’s giving him an unreadable look.  
  
“What?” he asks defensively and Chad watches him for a few more seconds before he turns away.  
  
He says, “Nothing.” And the three of them go back to watching television.  
  


  
Of course the realisation comes to Jared at four in the morning. Jensen’s snoring lightly beside him because Chad’s in the guest room and Jared can’t even think straight. But there’s no way in hell that he can let his mother see his crappy, run-down house. Ever. Or, well, not until he’s fixed it up.  
  
Twenty minutes later as he hands out steaming mugs of coffee to a sleepy Jensen and an irate Chad, Jared still hasn’t even been able to come up with a fragment of an idea.  
  
“Are you serious?” Chad grumbles as he tries to glare at Jared. His eyes are still half closed so Jared ignores it and pulls out his notepad and tucks his pen behind his hair.  
  
“Yes,” he says. “I mean, look at this place! It’s a mess!”  
  
“So, splash some paint on the walls and put a throw on your couch and make sure you lock every room upstairs and keep them down here. How hard can it be?” And well, when Chad puts it like that, it sounds simple.  
  
But then Jensen chimes in with, “The house next door is empty.” He yawns loudly before continuing. Jared hates that he finds it oddly attractive. “It’s got all the furniture in it and everything, for viewings. I doubt that the real estate agents will have any scheduled past 5pm.”  
  
Jensen is a genius, Jared thinks as he scribbles down on his pad. Chad makes an unimpressed sound as he turns to Jared.  
  
“Or, you can just paint your walls and make the room look presentable. I mean, we can get a table from IKEA or something,” he says.  
  
“Yeah, like they wouldn’t notice fresh paint on the walls,” Jensen says derisively. “Or get it on their thousand dollar threads and make a loud-ass ruckus over it.”  
  
“Hey!” Jared protests even though he kind of agrees. But they’re still his parents.  
  
“Sorry,” Jensen mumbles with a wry smile. Jared can’t help returning it as he registers the incredulous look that Chad’s giving him through the corner of his eye.  
  


  
“So you’re in love with him,” Chad says as they sit in IHOP five hours later. It’s a Saturday morning so it’s a little packed. Jared doesn’t mind though. The hustle and bustle keeps his mind off the fact that he’s getting fake married for money and plotting to pretend that someone else’s house is his. Jared’s not sure why Chad’s bringing up Jensen right now when he’s already freaking the fuck out over all of the lies.  
  
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he says around a mouthful of pancakes and Chad raises an eyebrow as he leans back in his seat. He expects Chad to call him a dickwad or a pussy or something but Chad just watches him closely, with a serious, closed off look on his face. Jared lets his fork clatter onto his plate as he sighs. “I’m not in love with him.” It sounds hollow even to him but what’s he going to do? Admit that he’s in love with the guy who put him in this mess in the first place? He has  _some_  self-respect.  
  
“Okay, then why are you doing this?” Chad asks.  
  
“Didn’t we have this conversation yesterday?” Jared asks blearily. “Either way, I’m doing it because I want to.”  
  
“What?” Chad all but splutters.  
  
“Maybe I just want to have some fun for once?” Jared says, anger creeping into his voice. “I have such bad luck with guys that no one’s ever gonna want to marry me, so I might as well enjoy this one right? And I want to help Jensen out. Like I said yesterday.”  
  
“What kind of trouble is he in?” Chad asks as he tries to conceal the look of pity on his face. It’s futile because Jared’s seen it. He’s seen it and he  _hates_  it. “I mean, I saw the bruises on his face.”  
  
“It’s none of your business.” Jared stands up then and fumbles around in his pocket before pulling out a crumbled five dollar bill. He’s supposed to be the one treating Chad to breakfast but it’s pretty much all he has at the moment.  
  
“I’ll settle up,” Chad says before he can say anything. “Wait for me outside.” Jared sighs as he traipses outside, not really liking the way that Chad’s made sure that he can’t just leave like he wants to.  
  


  
Six hours later, Jared rushes into the house next door with a stack of printed off photos in his hand and a bag full of frames from Goodwill. He’s not sure how Jensen got in or how he knows that no one will be back but he pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind. There’s a comfortable looking leather couch in the middle of the living room and Jared practically runs to it. He sets the bag on the floor gently as he sinks down onto the couch and exhales deeply. As he sets his head on the headrest, a pair of hands settle over his eyes and a loud voice says, “Guess who?!”  
  
Despite the scare, Jared smiles.  
  
“Hey,” he says quietly as Jensen removes his hands.  
  
“Hey,” Jensen says back, his hands settling in Jared’s hair. Neither of them say anything as Jensen starts to stroke Jared’s hair softly. At first Jared tenses up but he relaxes after a few seconds. He can’t help closing his eyes and pretending that this is real. That he’s just come back from work or something. And Jensen’s here, here for him. For a minute or so he revels in the daydream until a voice that sounds suspiciously like Chad says,  _Yeah right, Jared. Keep on dreaming. It ain’t never gonna happen._  Jared jolts forwards, dislodging Jensen’s hands as he moves along the couch. Jensen’s staring at him, with a disappointed look on his face when Jared looks up at him. Jared figures that Jensen’s probably annoyed that they’re not about to have a quickie or anything.  
  
“My mom’s called three times,” Jared says suddenly. “To check to see if we have plans.” Jensen snorts and shakes his head.  
  
“Subtle,” he says in a teasing tone, though there’s something off in his voice that Jared can’t quite decipher.  
  
“Yeah,” Jared replies. “We better get a move on”. For the next hour, they work quietly and seamlessly to transform the place so it looks like Jared might live there. Jared catches Jensen with a few of his DVDs at one point and he can’t help stopping in surprise.  
  
“How did you…?” he trails off, not quite sure what he’s even trying to ask. Jensen seems to get it though, because he smiles a little.  
  
“I know more than you think, Jay.” The nickname sends a burst of sourness through Jared and he grimaces a little.  
  
“Don’t call me that.” Jensen looks a little taken aback for a few seconds before something flits across his eyes and his expression changes. Jared wonders if he should apologise for snapping but Jensen’s quick with his response.  
  
“Lemme guess, your douchey ex called you that?” Jared doesn’t deny or confirm it but Jensen nods to himself anyway. “I’ve got the message loud and clear.  _Jared_.” Jared’s not sure if Jensen’s upset with him or something else so he shrugs and grabs another frame.  
  
Despite what he’d told Chad, this isn’t actually all that fun anymore.  
  
It’s just starting to hurt.  
  



	3. Chapter 3

  
  
By the time Jared’s parents arrive, he’s feeling completely dejected and down. He’s been huddled on the couch for the last hour while Jensen runs around, sorting out whatever the hell he’s been doing. Right now in this moment, Jared doesn’t care. He’s too busy caught up in old, painful memories. Maybe he’s in love with Jensen and maybe he isn’t. It doesn’t change the fact that this is always how it starts. He meets a guy, helps them out with something, falls in love along the way and then eventually ends up with a broken heart and more emotional baggage than he’d like to admit to having. It’s exactly how things with Jensen are going and Jared just can’t stop the rollercoaster. He can’t find the stop button because there’s that stupid, masochistic part of him that simply doesn’t want to.  
  
He’s done unrequited love before. Jared knows that he’s relatively good looking, he’s reliable, clean-cut and a little bit of a nerd. He’s Mr Dependable. He’s everyone’s shoulder to cry on. He’s just  _there_ , nobody ever wants him. Maybe he’s jus—  
  
“Dude, this is not the time to be having an emo-fit,” Chad says, as he grabs Jared’s arm and pulls him up. “You need to go and direct your parents to  _this_  house. That’s all that we ask.” Jared looks up to see Jensen watching him with a small smile on his face. He tries to smile back but he’s not quite sure if he manages it.  
  
“Look alive, Padalecki,” Chad says as he steers Jared towards the front door. “Time to break out the dimples!”  
  


  
Three hours later and Jared finds himself standing beside Jensen and Chad as they stare at the red smear of tomato sauce on the pristine cream coloured wall.  _This doesn’t look like the kind of place that I’d imagined you’d have,_ his mother had said. Of course she’d love it. She probably thought that Jared had chosen a colour she’d like. Like Jared was really stupid enough to paint his walls  _cream_. Of course his mother’s comments had just been the start of it. It turns out that Jensen had invited his parents over to  _even the playing field a little_. He’d looked over at Jared as he said that and gave him a secret smile. Or, well, that’s what Jared thought it was. He’d soon remembered that this was  _Jensen_. A highly skilled deceptionist. Which wasn’t even a word, proving just how messed up Jared was over this guy. At this rate, he may as well just stick to teaching pre-schoolers.  
  
Diane Ackles and Carrie Padalecki were specifically known for two things. Their delicious pumpkin and apple pies (respectively), and the fact that they  _hated_  each other’s guts. Jared can’t even remember how the rivalry started but it’d made for some interesting functions and events over the years.  
  
“Uh,” he’d said as he sat down next to Jensen. “You do know that my mom hates your mom, right?” Jensen just shot him a baffled look as he snorted.  
  
“Please, they’re both members of the bridge club,” he’d said. “I’m sure that they have some common ground.”  
  
“You know nothing about women,” Jared had replied as he took a sip of his wine. “I just hope they don’t break anything.” Jensen had just rolled his eyes in a manner that suggested that he thought that Jared was being ridiculous.  
  


  
A heated argument and aborted semi-food fight later, here they were staring at the bright red stain.  
  
“I can’t believe that they fought over the fact that Jensen learned how to play the piano when he was six while you can only play two chords on your guitar.” Chad breaks the stunned silence. It sounds ridiculous just to hear it out loud and Jared unconsciously curls his fist up in Jensen’s shirt and tugs him closer. He’s more concerned about how the fuck they’re going to get the damn stain off the wall. But then Jensen steps closer and Jared feels himself start to… _react_  and he flips out.  
  
“You know what?” he says as he moves back and drops his hand. “The two of you can sort this mess out. I’m going to bed.”  
  
“What the hell?” Chad replies. “Dude, all three of us are going to figure this out, you can’t just leave us hanging.” Jared shrugs as he starts to look around for his jacket.  
  
“I can and I am,” Jared says, as he finally finds it behind the pristine, black leather couch. “This was not my fault, I did not suggest this.” Jensen and Chad both give him twin looks of confusion and Jared huffs and drags a hand through his hair. He schools his face into a sad, downbeat expression and he sighs dramatically.  
  
“I just can’t deal with this anymore,” he continues. “Migraine. I have a mi—“  
  
“Migraine?” Jensen repeats, with a look of concern on his face. “In that case, yeah. Go get some sleep.” Jared nods and avoids Chad as he quickly heads for the front door.  
  


  
He ends up at a bar. He’s not even sure how, but he may have walked for an hour before he found it because his legs are  _killing_  him. Even so, two hours and four beers later he finds himself spilling his heart out to Juan, the bartender. He’s a nice looking guy, with light brown eyes, light brown skin and dark hair. But he has a girlfriend. He knows this because Juan spent the first hour waxing poetically about how amazing she was until Jared abruptly burst into tears.  
  
“So let me get this straight,” Juan says from the stool next to Jared’s. “You moved here a month ago, but your house is possibly a health hazard and needs to be fixed up. Not only have most of your possessions been stolen, you’re kind of broke and you have no job.  
  
“Coincidentally, you also happened to reunite with your high school crush and somehow the two of you are now fake-fiancés  _with benefits_. But you think you’re really in love with him so you’re going ahead with the fake wedding. Oh right, because the mob are maybe after him so you think you can stop him from getting hurt by marrying him.”  
  
Jared blinks and says, “Well when you put it like that, it sounds  _ridiculous_.” Only it sounds more like he’s said  _ridiculoushh_ , his voice is slurred and he’s feeling a lot looser than he was before.  
  
“It  _is_ ridiculous,” Juan says with a laugh. It’s a nice, smooth sound and Jared likes it. But Jensen’s laugh is much better. As are his abs. Jared’s not sure why he’s gone from comparing laughs to abs. Maybe he needs some water. “But if you really like this Jensen guy, then maybe you should tell him how you feel. And then maybe you can work your way out of this mess.”  
  
“But I really want that six-tier cake,” Jared says with a pout. “I can’t  _not_  marry him – or, well, fake marry him.”  
  
“Well, no one can make your decisions for you buddy.”  
  


  
Juan drops him off at his house the next morning on his way to work. It’d been too late last night for Jared to hail a cab so Juan had been kind enough to let Jared crash on his floor. Juan whistles under his breath as he pulls up outside the house.  
  
“I thought you said that your house was all rundown and shit?” Juan says.  
  
Jared snorts. “Yeah, but luckily for me that’s only on the inside.” Juan chuckles and nods his goodbye as Jared gets out of the car. With one last wave, Jared starts to make his way down the path as the car’s engine sounds in the distance. Before he can pull out his keys, the door flies open and Jensen’s there looking downright  _pissed_.  
  
Jared blanches at the force of anger that Jensen seems to be directing at him and he stops in his tracks.  
  
“Where the hell have you been?” Jensen practically explodes as he stands there in the doorway, his green eyes flashing. Of course the first thing that pops into Jared’s mind is how beautiful Jensen looks when he’s angry. He chastises himself mentally as he enters his house, pushing Jensen aside gently when he gets to the doorway.  
  
“None of your damn business,” Jared growls back as he throws his keys down onto the abandoned phone stand in the hallway.  
  
“You just up and left without a word, to  _sleep_  you said, only when I got back here you were nowhere to be seen!” Jensen sounds genuinely upset but Jared can’t be sure. Maybe he’s just putting it on because he doesn’t want Jared to back out. Maybe—maybe Jared needs to stop fooling himself. Like Jensen gives a crap what he does, hell he’d probably find someone else to take Jared’s place if Jared pulled out. Well, Jared’s done, this isn’t about looking out for Jensen anymore and making sure that those thugs don’t mess up his face. It’s about Jared getting enough money to make sure that this house isn’t a complete disaster. This is a chance for  _him_  to start fresh. Jared’s not sure why he seems to have forgotten that along the way.  
  
“I didn’t realise that I had to run all of my activities by you,” Jared says snidely. “Some people would call that oppression.” Jensen blinks hard and Jared starts towards the kitchen. The sound of footsteps behind him alerts him to the fact that Jensen’s following closely and he sighs. He heads over to the fridge and pulls out a carton of juice. He pops open the cap and sniffs at little before shrugging and taking a swig directly from the carton.  
  
“You should use a glass,” Jensen says and Jared snorts.  
  
“Yes  _mom_.” There’s an awkward tense silence as they stand there, Jared by the fridge and Jensen somewhere behind him. Jared starts to think that he should maybe apologise for his attitude but Jensen speaks first.  
  
“Look, I shouldn’t have yelled alright?” he says. “I was just worried that something might have happened to you. And then you didn’t answer my calls and just…next time let me know where you’re going, okay?”  
  
“You were worried about me?” Jared can hear the barely disguised wonder in his own voice and he winces a little.  
  
“Yes! Look I know that this isn’t exactly what you want, and that I’m the one who got you into this mess but I’d like to think that we’re at least friends. We are aren’t we?”  
  
Friends.  
  
It shouldn’t make Jared feel like he’s been punched in the gut but it does. At the same time, he’s practically yearning for whatever the hell Jensen’s offering. Not for the first time Jared hates the fact that when he falls, he falls  _hard_.  
  
“Yeah, we are,” he replies a little breathlessly. “Me and you…we’re friends.”  
  
Before Jared knows what’s happening. Jensen darts forward and rests his hand on the small of Jared’s back. Jared turns, a frown starting to form on his face when Jensen leans forward and wraps his arms around Jared. It should be just a hug between  _friends_  but Jared feels a warm flush spreading through him.  
  
He tries to tell himself that he can get through this.  
  


  
After Jared grabs a shower and changes his clothes, he and Jensen head out to the store for their wedding registry. The wedding’s three weeks away and his mother has been harassing him to get it done already. One part of Jared is excited at the thought of dashing around the store with a scanner, and the other wants to call it off because he feels guilty. But this is the whole point of their fake-wedding, and he can’t bring himself to let Jensen down.  
  
“My mom’s friend works as the manager here,” Jensen says as he eyes Jared warily. “So we might have to be a little more touchy-feeling than usual.” Jared’s mouth goes dry at the mere thought but he clears his throat and nods his assent quickly. Jensen practically beams at him and Jared tries not to show his confusion. Jensen’s been acting weird since their little argument that morning. It’s been a whirlwind of coy smiles and strange looks and Jared doesn’t know what to think right now. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think that Jensen was trying to hit on him but he _does_  know better. It must just be part of the act.  
  
Jared’s jolted out of his thoughts by Jensen slipping his hand into Jared’s and tugging him along. The action leaves Jared a little flabbergasted and he walks alongside Jensen wordlessly. Jensen’s hand feels warm and dry in his and Jared can practically feel a crackle of electricity running down his spine. Jensen turns back to him and smiles  _again_  and Jared huffs quietly as they hit the first aisle.  
  


  
“We don’t need four plasma TVs!” Jensen’s scanning through the list as they sit in Jared’s living room. Jared may have gotten a little excited back at the store.  
  
“Look at it this way, there’s a now a 1 in 4 chance that we’ll get a TV!” Jared says, even though he’s not really sure about the math. Jensen throws him a weird look and Jared hastily goes back to the guest list and seating plan for the reception. It’s a pretty daunting task because Jared doesn’t even know who half of these people are but his mom insisted that they be invited. According to her, most of them have RSVP’d back already despite the fact that this is all happening so quickly. While more people means more gifts, it’s also means more hours spent perfecting the damn seating plan.  
  
“Is this really necessary?” Jared whines as he finishes with the third table. “How am I supposed to know where to put everyone?” Jensen starts to laugh until he’s quickly silenced by Jared’s glare.  
  
“Well, it’ll make things quicker if everyone knows where to sit. At least I think that’s what’s supposed to happen,” Jensen says unreassuringly. “Just seat people anywhere and keep our mothers apart.”  
  
“I don’t know about that,” Jared says teasingly. “A wedding food fight sounds kind of fun.” It’s the closest he’s come to mentioning what happened the previous day. He found out from Jensen that Chad had managed to scrub the stain off after he’d disappeared and that both of their mothers had called to apologise for their behaviour. He’s not sure if they both think that he flipped out over the stain. But he can’t help thinking that Jensen’s been acting extra nice to him all day long because he’s not sure when Jared’s going to explode next.  
  
“I’d probably find you in Mexico the next day.” And there is definitely some residual anger in the way that Jensen says that even though he has this strained smile on his face.  
  
“Is there something that you want to say to me?” Jared asks and he can’t keep the accusatory tone out of his voice so he doesn’t even attempt to. Jensen sighs quietly as he puts down the papers he’d been holding. He turns to look at Jared, his face serious and downcast. Jared kind of hates seeing him like that.  
  
“I get that you’re freaking out and everything and even though I don’t know why exactly, I’m here if you need to talk,” Jensen says. “I don’t want you to feel like you need to do this because of _me_. This is to help both of us.” It’s nothing that Jensen hasn’t said before but it feels different somehow. Jensen’s giving him this look, and it’s almost as though he really cares. Perhaps Jared’s been selling him short. Or maybe he’s just projecting again.  
  
“I get that,” he says hoping that will end the conversation there and then. But Jensen is relentless.  
  
“Do you, Jared?” he asks. “Because I’ve been getting some weird vibes off you lately man, like you feel that I forced you into this. I get that this is my fault, but you’ve always had a choice.”  
  
“It’s not you.”  
  
“Well then, what is it? Maybe I can help.” Jared doubts that very much but for some reason he finds himself spilling everything out. He tells Jensen that every guy he’s ever loved has only ever wanted something from him. He tells Jensen that every guy he’s ever loved has let him down and abandoned him. And he tells Jensen that he doesn’t think that people like him ever get a happy ending.  
  
“Happy endings are overrated anyway,” Jensen says in an attempt to crack the sombre mood. It doesn’t work. “Look, you need to just get over it.” Jared’s head snaps up at that, his eyes wide with shock.  
  
“Sorry, that came out wrong,” Jensen flushes, his cheeks turning bright pink as he wrings his hands a little. “You need to forget those guys is what I mean, they’re not even worthy of you, man. And if you go into every relationship thinking that way then…the odds  _are_  against you. You just need to have some hope.”  
  
“I thought you said that love was for fools.”  
  
“You should know better than to listen to me, Jared,” Jensen says with a grin. “’sides, it’s not like I’ve ever been in love.”  
  
“You haven’t?”  
  
“Nah,” Jensen says with a shrug. “I’ve never been all that invested in my relationships.”  
  
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right person.”  
  
“Maybe,” Jensen agrees as he meets Jared’s gaze. “Though, if I was to fall in love with someone, I’d want it to be someone like you.”  
  
Jared practically freezes right there next to Jensen on the couch. He can’t just say things like that and expect Jared to just laugh it off. But as he looks into Jensen’s eyes, Jared gets the sense that Jensen’s being serious. Which makes no sense whatsoever. Still, his eyes are drawn downwards to Jensen’s mouth and he has the sudden urge to just kiss the life out of him. They’ve done this before but the charge between them feels different somehow, deeper almost. Before Jared knows what he’s doing he’s leaning forward slowly, his eyes starting to draw close as he nears Jensen’s face. But just as their lips start to brush Jensen turns his head away.  
  
The pain of the rejection hits Jared  _hard_.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Jensen says as he backs up and eventually stands. “I shouldn’t have said that. Especially not when you…when you’re…”  
  
“When I’m what?” Jared snaps, the pain in his chest making him feel angry and hurt.  
  
“When you’re still hung up over your ex,” Jensen says. “I shouldn’t be messing with you head like that. I’m sorry…I think I’m gonna, I’m just going for a walk to clear my head. I’ll try and pick up dinner.”  
  
Jensen’s gone before Jared can even process what just happened.  
  


  
The week before the wedding, Jensen’s family throws a BBQ in honour of Jared and Jensen’s upcoming nuptials. Usually, Jared would be happy to get an opportunity to eat free food but everything is off between him and Jensen. They still speak to each other but the conversations are stilted and awkward in a way that they never were before. Chad had gotten annoyed the previous week and announced that he was going to stay with a friend of his until they sorted their shit out. Jared just reckons that Chad had grown tired of hearing the old water pipes groan and creak. He was lucky that they hadn’t burst or something.  
  
They’ve been around their families since their little conversation so the act isn’t even all that hard to slip into. Jared wraps an arm around Jensen’s waist and Jensen leans into him as they stand in the Ackles’ back garden with bottles of beer in their hands.  
  
“God, you two are gross.” Jared’s sister Melissa walks by them and shoots them a mock look of disgust. Jared sticks his tongue out at her and Jensen just smiles after her.  
  
“One more week and this will all be over,” Jensen murmurs as Jared takes a swig of his beer. He doesn’t sound relieved or anything, just wistful. Jared never really knows where anything stands with Jensen. “Your mom asked me the other day if my intentions were pure.” Jared splutters over his beer as his cheeks start to turn red. He glances up to see that his mother is looking their way right now. He puts his beer down on the nearest picnic table and he moves so that he’s directly in front of Jensen with his arms circled around the other man’s waist.  
  
“Why would she ask that?” he says as he looks down at Jensen. “Do you think she suspects us?”  
  
“I think she was just looking out for you,” Jensen replies. “She said that she knew that she was hard on you sometimes but that she also knows how hard you fall when you love someone. She said that if I’m just going to break your heart, I should have the dignity to do it before we get up in front of hundreds of people.”  
  
“Wow.” Jared didn’t even know that his mother was still capable of expressing any emotions. The money that they’d gotten had seemed to quell her natural caring side all those years ago. If anything, he was glad that she’d spoken to Jensen. “She say anything else?”  
  
“Yeah,” Jensen says a little gruffly. “She said that despite what she’d said, she didn’t think that I would let you down. She said she knew love when she saw it. Oh and I’m to make sure that you don’t spend all of your time watching those damn DVDs that you like to hoard.”  
  
“I don’t  _hoard_ , I collect,” Jared says indignantly and Jensen just laughs. It sounds genuine and Jared can’t help revelling in the sound. He’s missed this, missed them being able to talk to each other. He still maybe doesn’t know everything about Jensen but Jared thinks that right now, he knows enough.  
  
He’s starting to think that maybe there’s hope.  
  
Of course that’s when the yelling starts.  
  
“Excuse me, but this is a family event!” Jensen’s face goes pale as the man his mom’s talking to steps into view. Jared let’s go of him as he steps back and gets a good look at the guy.  
  
He’s kind of short, and has a dark brown hair. He’s decked out in a dark, stuffy looking suit and speaks with a British accent. Jared knows this because the man turns to them and says, “Hello boys,” with a snide smirk on his face and Jensen tenses up beside him. “We’ve got a bit of business that we need to settle up.” Jared waits for Jensen to respond as everyone in their vicinity begins to look at them. But Jensen doesn’t say a word, he just freezes up. Jared’s problem-solving skills kick in and he takes charge of the situation.  
  
“Look, just wait here…” Jared trails off as he waits for the man to give his name.  
  
“The name’s Mark. Mark Sheppard.”  
  
“Okay, Mark just wait here for a second while I talk to Jensen.” Jensen follows him out of the garden and into the kitchen. Their shoes squeak against the tiled floor as they stop at the counter. The noise seems to jolt Jensen out of his daze and he blinks up at Jared.  
  
“How much does he want now?” Jared asks, not even attempting to mince his words or pussyfoot around.  
  
“Uh, six grand,” Jensen says with a hint of nervousness is his voice. “I said that I’d get it to him after the wedding but…he wouldn’t listen. I didn’t think that he’d turn up  _here_  of all places. My…my parents can’t find out about this.” Jensen looks so distraught that Jared’s only really left with one option.  
  
“I’ll ask my dad to write a check for him,” he tells Jensen. “And we can pay him back afterwards.”  
  
“We?” Jensen says, like that’s the most important part of what Jared’s said. Jared frowns at him.  
  
“Yeah well, we’re still in this together,” Jared says.  
  


  
Jared’s dad doesn’t really ask a lot of questions when Jared asks if he can borrow the money. He just nods at Jared, his expression more serious than it has been in years as he hands over the check and tells Jared to be careful. For some reason, Jared has to fight to keep his eyes dry. He can’t help but think that he underestimated his parents by not trusting them enough to help him out.  
  
Ten minutes later, Mark strolls out of the garden, looking all too pleased with himself. Jared realises that when it came to asking on Jensen’s behalf, he hadn’t even blinked. He hadn’t even thought about it.  
  
Jensen was right. Love really is for fools.  
  
“So you just went over and asked your dad for the money?” Chad says later as the BBQ draws to a close. Guests are starting to make their way home and Jared’s just waiting for Jensen, who’s still inside. “Just like that.”  
  
“Yup,” Jared says as he leans back to his seat. “I mean, what else was I going to do? Let that asshole rough Jensen up again?”  
  
“Well, just be careful, okay?” Chad says. Jared snorts. They’ve paid off the guy for now. It’s not like he’s going to be hanging around in the shadows waiting to attack him.  
  


  
Jared’s on his way home from the bar when he hears loud and heavy footfalls behind him. It’s pretty late so it’s dark. Chad had offered to spot him a few drinks at a nearby bar and Jared had agreed. He just needed to be away from Jensen for a few hours. Jensen had aimed a forlorn look his way before telling Jared that he’d see him at home.  _My house_  Jared had corrected Jensen in his head. Maybe it wasn’t too late to rebuild his boundaries.  
  
The steps quicken suddenly and Jared starts to speed up. His heart rate rises rapidly as he starts to panic. It’s not that he can’t defend himself – he’s a pretty big guy, it’s just that he hates fighting. Jared thinks that it’s the teacher in him or something. So he decides to stop and face the guy head on.  _Use your words, Padalecki_ ,  _use your words_. The guy behind him frowns as Jared turns to face him and Jared smiles weakly at him.  
  
“Hi,” he says, his voice cracking with fear. He clears his throat and tries again. “Hi. Look, I know that your boss sent you here to…beat me up but I think that maybe we can come to an understanding.” The guy grunts a little as he raises an eyebrow at Jared and cocks his head to the side.  
  
“He didn’t say you were chatty,” the man growls. “I hate the chatty ones.”  
  
“Let’s just talk about thi—“Jared’s cut off as the force of the guy’s fist hitting his face propels him backwards and he tumbles onto the ground. The guy leers at him as he steps forward, looming over Jared like a dark, vicious cloud.  
  
“Okay,” Jared says his voice thick with pain. “So I take it that you’re not big on talking then.” He knows that he should just keep his mouth shut but talking is his defence mechanism. He can’t help it.  
  
“I’m not surprised really, there’s probably nothing inside that big, bald head of yours!” The guy doesn’t respond, he just lifts his leg to aim a kick at Jared’s side. Jared closes his eyes in anticipation, the stench of an open garbage can somewhere filtering into his nostrils. He can feel something wet soaking into his pants and he grimaces and promptly feels a rush of pain thrumming across his face. So he lies there and waits for the kick.  
  
Instead he hears a voice yell, “Hey! What’s going on over here?” The thug is a small blur in the distance five seconds later as he runs away, leaving Jared huddled on the ground. Jared backs up into a wall and pulls himself up slowly. He looks up to thank the person who saved his ass and finds himself staring into a pair of familiar green eyes.  
  
“Jensen,” he practically breathes and Jensen just rushes forward and ropes his arm around Jared’s shoulders and starts to pull them in the direction of Jared’s house.  
  


  
“I am  _so_ sorry,” Jensen says for about the tenth time as he fusses around with Jared’s face again. It’s not too bad. The skin around his eye is a little red but it’s not swelling up yet. Though with Jared’s luck, he’ll probably end up having a black eye at his stupid fake wedding. He sighs deeply.  
  
“You’re pissed aren’t you?” Jensen asks and Jared swings his legs over and lies down flat on his bed.  
  
“No, I’m absolutely delighted with how today’s panned out!”  
  
“And now we have sarcasm.”  
  
“Fuck you,” Jared says in response. There’s a beat and then he speaks again, “What is it that you’re not telling me?” Jensen shifts from where he’s sitting at the end of the bed and he gives Jared a shrewd look. Jared blinks at the force of it and when he looks at Jensen again, it’s gone and Jensen’s wearing a wary expression.  
  
“About what? Sheppard and his thugs?”  
  
“Well, you can start there,” Jared says. “Why would he come here from New York just to harass you? There must be a lot of people back in NY that owe money to him, why not stay somewhere where he has a chance of making more of his cash back?”  
  
“I’ve owed him this money for a long time,” Jensen says, but there’s something in his voice that tells Jared that he’s lying. “I told him about the wedding and what we’re doing and he’s here to make sure that both of us go through with it.”  
  
“Is that what big and ugly was trying to say to me out there?”  
  
Jensen snorts humourlessly as he shrugs, “Guess so.”  
  


  
Chad throws him a bachelor party at one of the clubs downtown. As he’s getting ready Jared watches as Jensen lies on the couch, thumbing through his phone, dressed in ratty sweatpants and a holey t-shirt. Chad hadn’t invited him because they’d assumed that Jensen was going to have his own bachelor party but something finally occurs to Jared. It’s two days before Jensen gets married and…he hasn’t seen any of Jensen’s friends. Sure it’s only a fake marriage and all but still, Jared’s got a few friends showing up. It’s not like they’re ever going to find out and he trusts Chad not to tell anyone.  
  
“Dude, you’re just going to sit here all night?” he asks. “Don’t your friends have anything planned for you?”  
  
“I don’t  _have_  any friends, Jared,” Jensen says wistfully. “I drove them all away back in D—New York.” Jared notices the slip but he doesn’t think much of it. Jensen tosses his phone down onto the seat and looks up then, catches Jared struggling to knot his tie. Before Jared even sees him moving, Jensen’s right there in front of him. Invading his space as he knocks Jared’s hands away. Jared can feel Jensen’s warm breath fanning over his neck as he fixes up Jared’s tie.  
  
“I'm sure you have at least one friend somewhere," Jared says quietly. "You're Jensen Ackles." Jensen snorts at that as he finishes up with the tie and takes a step back.  
  
"You say that like it's a good thing," he says. Jared doesn't really know what to say to that so he just shrugs.  
  
"Well, what about Tom? He's your friend."  
  
"You mean our fathers are business partners so we've ended up hanging out here and there," Jensen replies. "We're not really friends."  
  
"So there's no one?" Jared asks. "No one at all?"  
  
"Well....there's you."  
  
Jared’s not sure how to even begin to respond to that so he beams at Jensen and says, "Well then as my friend, you're officially invited to my bachelor party," he says. "Go and get changed, I'll wait for you here - and no arguments okay? You're coming!" Jensen holds his hands up in defeat as he leaves the room and the smile on Jared's face falls.


	4. Chapter 4

  
  
The club that Chad booked is definitely way more upmarket than anything Jared’s ever been too. It’s all swanky, with dark, softly lit interiors and shiny booths. The VIP area is full of plush couches and seats and glossy tables. It’s all kind of an eyesore in Jared’s opinion. But it’s exactly what he’d been expecting when Chad had announced that he was organising the party. He forgets sometimes that his friends are all kind of wealthy. Most of them come from old money and have always flaunted it whereas Jared’s never really been into all of that. Suddenly he misses the few true friends that he’d had back in New York. Sure, they maybe hadn’t been close enough to really keep in touch with him. But they’d kept Jared grounded. Sipping Cristal with a bunch of nameless people he barely even remembers is not his idea of fun.  
  
“Chad seems like the kinda guy who’d hire a stripper,” Jensen says with a smirk as he joins Jared on the couch. His eyes are kind of glazed and he has a pink drink in his hand. Jared raises an eyebrow. “What? It tastes good!” Jared just rolls his eyes and goes back to sipping his beer.  
  
“The only person I want a lap dance from is you, babe,” Jared says after a few minutes of silence. Not that the club is quiet. The thump-thump of the heavy bass lines has been giving Jared a headache all night. Jensen starts laughing loudly and Jared looks up to see some random guy giving him a thumbs-up. He quickly turns away.  
  
“Play your cards right, and you just might get one.  _Babe_.”  
  
Jared’s cock twitches in his dress pants and he sighs to himself. He needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut.  
  
“We should do this for real,” Jensen says suddenly and Jared can’t help frowning at the other man. Jensen’s wearing a dark grey shirt with the top buttons undone and black dress pants. Even with all of the $1000 dollar suits in this place, he’s still the best-dressed person in here. And the  _hottest_. Jared only wishes that they could be doing this for real.  
  
“Do what for real?”  
  
“Get married.”  
  
Jared can barely hear Jensen over the awful Skrillex song blasting through the club and he motions towards the balcony and stands up. The rush of cool air that hits Jared’s face as he steps outside is refreshing and he inhales and exhales deeply as he tries to calm himself down. For a second he thinks that Jensen’s not coming but then the man steps outside, his previously discarded jacket draped over his shoulder.  
  
“Okay, talk,” Jared says.  
  
Jensen gives him a bashful looks before he sighs and leans against the railing so that he’s facing Jared.  
  
“I…maybe we shouldn’t have this discussion now.”  
  
“Well we are, so talk.” Jared’s voice sounds distant even to himself and he realises that he’s setting himself up for another fall. Gone is the usual unrestrained hope that he normally has. Jensen’s dangled everything that Jared wants in front of him and Jared’s giving him the chance to snatch it away from all over again.  
  
“I like you,” Jensen says as he looks away. “Not just…as a friend but…as more and I think that maybe you like me too. And that’s even after everything, after all the crap I’ve pulled and just…I wish that this could be more.”  
  
“So do I,” Jared whispers. “But I don’t know if it’d work out.”  
  
What? What the hell is Jared even saying? He should be leaping into Jensen’s arms right about now. He should be kissing the life out of him and professing his love for him but he isn’t.  
  
“I understand,” Jensen says solemnly. “But I’d be willing to try. If you want to.”  
  
“Can I trust you?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
“No Jensen, can I  _really_  trust you?” Jared asks desperately. “There’s not going to be another Sheppard waiting in the wings or a nasty surprise between now and the wedding?”  
  
“Well, there—“  
  
“Jared, Jensen – guys come on, the stripper just got here!” Chad’s there suddenly and Jensen never gets a chance to finish what he was saying.  
  
“We can talk about this after the wedding, right?” Jared says as Chad drags him back into the VIP lounge.  
  
Jensen doesn’t answer.  
  


  
Jared awakens with a start. He groans as he sits up and he quickly realises that he’s not in his shirt. His head is pounding and his mouth tastes like ass. His bones creak as he stands up and surveys the room. He’s back at his house, he realises as he stands in his living room. Chad’s lying in a heap on the ground, snoring loudly next to another guy that Jared’s not sure he knows. As Jared locates his shirt, he realises that Jensen’s not in the room and he frowns. He tries to cast his mind back to the events of the previous night. He can remember a scantily clad stripper and a lot of baby oil. Jared then remembers his father showing up halfway through Jared getting a lap dance from said stripper. That’s followed by the memory of him and Jensen making out hungrily in a bathroom stall.  _Great_. They’d been in the middle of something before Chad had interrupted them. Jared’s not sure what Jensen had been about to say but he figures that it really can wait until later.  
  
An hour later Jared bounds down the stairs freshly showered. He’s humming a tune as he makes his way into the kitchen. He hears the old water pipe creak and groan and sends a prayer upwards pleading for it not to burst while there’s no one in the house. Jared’s called a plumber to come and look at it already, but there’s no one available until next week. With any luck he might actually be able to afford to pay them by then. Jared starts to root around his cupboards for breakfast when there’s a knock at the door. He stifles a groan. The thing that Jared’s always hated the most about not living at home is having to answer the front door.  
  
He makes his way to the door slowly, peering into the living room beforehand to see that only Chad remains. Idly, he wonders if he should be worried about that other guy potentially stealing his stuff but he shrugs it off.  
  
“Who is it?” he calls as he reaches the door because it’s pretty early. He’s not in the mood for a lecture from Jehovah’s Witnesses.  
  
“FBI! Open up!”  
  
 _FBI?!_  
  
Jared opens the door slowly and practically gawps at the two people on his door step. It’s a man and woman. The man’s tall and has dark, brown skin and close cropped black hair whereas the woman’s shorter in height, fair skinned and has long blonde hair. Both of them are dressed in smart black clothing. Their badges are both on chains hung around their neck. As they glint in the sunshine, Jared comes to the conclusion that they really are the FBI. Shit.  
  
“I’m Special Agent Cassidy and he’s Special Agent Hodge,” Agent Cassidy says. “We need to talk to you.” Jared blinks at them for a few seconds before he regains his bearings and swings the door open.  
  
“Uh. Sure. Right, come in,” he says nervously. “Do you guys want tea, coffee or water or something? I’m out of juice.” He’s aware that he’s rambling but he’s not sure what the standard protocol is for the damn FBI.  
  
“No thank you sir, we’re just here to talk.” Jared nods vigorously as he directs them to the front room and gestures towards the couch. He beckons for them to sit down and they do, even if it is a little gingerly. Chad’s still lying on the floor, his snores quieter than they were before. That doesn’t stop Agent Cassidy from giving him a wary look. Jared laughs nervously as he perches on the table in front of them.  
  
“Sorry about him, he’s just sleeping off a hangover,” Jared explains. “Bachelor party. I’m getting married tomorrow. Woo!”  
  
Agents Cassidy and Hodge just stare at him and Jared starts to feel a little unnerved.  
  
“So what’s this about?” he asks finally.  
  
“Do you know this man?” Cassidy asks as she hands Jared a small Polaroid size picture. It’s a picture of Jensen. Or, well, a blurry security camera shot of Jensen. He’s got a cap on, and he’s wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans.  
  
“Why are you asking?” he says quietly even though there’s a sinking feeling in his gut. He doesn’t know what this is about yet but he knows that it’s not going to be any good.  
  
“He’s a person of interest in an investigation into a number of robberies,” Hodge replies. “People who’ve hired this particular moving company RE: MOVE have reported that their items have been stolen.”  
  
“All of the people we’ve spoken to so far have ID’d this guy as the driver,” Cassidy continues. “Most of the trucks started off in New York and were destined to arrive either here in Texas or in neighbouring states.”  
  
“We think that it could be some sort of smuggling ring or that the items are deliberately taken from the truck and sold off for cash,” Hodge says. “So we’d really appreciate your cooperation Padalecki.” Jared doesn’t miss the way Hodge’s voice takes on a forceful edge and he swallows hard.  
  
“If I do know that man…what are you going to do with him?” Jared asks because there’s no point in pretending that he doesn’t know Jensen. He’s a shitty liar and he knows that the FBI has ways of making people talk. Not only that, he’s angry. Angry that Jensen really had been using him all along. He’d sold off all of Jared’s things and then  _pretended that he hadn’t_ , he’d  _slept_ with Jared and fucking taken money from his Dad. There aren’t words for how betrayed he feels right now.  
  
“We just want to question him for now,” Cassidy says, her blonde hair falling into her eyes as he she exchanges a look with Hodge. “Like we said, he’s just a person of interest for now.”  
  
“What is that? Some sort of code for “suspect”?”  
  
“Just answer the question, Padalecki.” Hodge looks at him sternly, “Do you know this man or not?”  
  


  
Jared next sees Jensen at his parent’s house where they are preparing for the rehearsal dinner. He doesn't ask Jensen where he's been all morning and Jensen doesn't offer the information up himself. Jared busies himself with inspecting the decorations instead. As the actual wedding is being held here, his mom is still in the middle of fixing everything up. He can hear his mom and Jensen's arguing about a flower delivery and he sighs. At the moment all that's been set up is a long, wooden archway in front of rows of seats. He presumes that’s where Jensen and he will stand when they exchange vows. The traditional kind because Jared's not going to pretend that them writing their own vows is a good idea. The chairs are still covered in their plastic wrapping and there's a plastic covered carpet on the ground between each section of seats. Jared doesn't even want to know how much it cost.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" Jensen asks as he shoves his phone into his back pocket. He's been on it all evening, no doubt planning out who his next target will be. Jared feels a rush of anger and he grits his teeth and barely manages to not punch that look off Jensen's face. Jensen's a liar, a good actor and Jared's sick of being his puppet. Even so, revenge is a dish best served cold and Jared is going to make sure that Jensen pays for this.  
  
"Jared?" Jensen's still looking at him expectantly and Jared snaps.  
  
“Just leave me alone," he says before striding down the huge garden and hastily making his way back into the house. He locks himself in the upstairs bathroom because he doesn't want anything to bother him. Of course seconds later, he hears a rustling sound as the shower curtain is pulled back.  
  
“Oh look, it’s the groom to-be,” his sister says as she sits there nonchalantly in the bathtub with a Kindle in her hands. “What brings you to my humble abode?” She’s fully dressed and her hair and makeup are done which just makes the whole thing that much weirder.  
  
“Maybe I just need to take a piss?” Jared says as he gives her a confused look. “Why are you reading in the bathtub anyway?” His sister leans over and hands the e-book reader to him as she stands up and climbs out of tub. Jared starts to wonder if his family has always been this weird.  
  
“You’re kidding, right?” Melissa says as she takes her Kindle back. “This is the only room that’s sufficiently soundproof. Mom and Mrs Ackles have been arguing all morning and Dad escaped with Mr Ackles to play golf or something.”  
  
“Point taken.”  
  
“Anyway, you definitely had your thinky-thoughts face on when you came in here. What’s wrong with you?” Melissa asks. “Trouble in paradise?” Jared shrugs a little, not really wanting to get into with her right now. He’s always been honest with his sister and he’s mostly avoided talking about Jensen with her. His parents are one thing, but you always tell your siblings more don’t you? He doesn’t want to have to lie to her. Before he can say anything, there’s a knock on the door.  
  
“Hey, Jared,” Jensen calls outside. “Our presence is required downstairs.” Jared sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose as his head starts to pound a little. He can feel his temper rising and he inhales and exhales and tries to steady himself. As he looks up, Jared catches his sister frowning at him and he smiles at her weakly.  
  
“Gotta go show my ugly mug to the masses,” he says, trying his best to sound cheerful. He ignores the raised eyebrow and disbelieving expression on her face. She doesn’t say anything in response, just gives Jared a curt nod and climbs back into the tub.  
  
“If Mom asks, you haven’t seen me,” she says. “And I’ll talk to you later on about what’s bothering you.”  
  
 _Damn._  
  


  
The rehearsal dinner is chaotic. Their mothers get into a huge argument halfway through desert. They’d been acting in a civil manner towards each other for the most part. Fortunately for Jared, the only extra people here are Melissa and Jensen’s brother, Daniel. They’d vetoed inviting anyone other than immediate family members as part of Jared’s ‘keeping costs down’ idea. Somehow the conversation strays to the last suit fitting he and Jensen had had and Diana starts making her observations known. Jared glances at his mom and watches as her lips morph into a thin line. According to Diana, Jared’s posture is all wrong. Jared’s not really bothered because she’s probably right. He knows that he’s tall, gangly and sometimes hunches in on himself. However, she spends at least five minutes harping on about it, until Jared’s mom snaps.  
  
“Oh why don’t you just shut the fuck up?” she yells. There’s a hushed silence as everyone in the dining room turns to stare at her. Jared is shocked because his mother very rarely ever swears. In fact he’s only ever heard her swear once, and that was back when she broke her arm. He turns to share a look with his sister only to see that she’s visibly holding back a fit of laughter. Jensen’s brother pretty much has a matching expression on his face.  
  
“I beg your pardon,” Diana says with a shocked look on her face. “I’m not sure if this family is one that I want my son to marry into. Don’t think that your new money makes you any better than us.”  
  
“ _Mom_ ,” Jensen says, with a hint of warning his tone.  
  
“Oh it’s quite alright darling,” she says airily. “You can’t help who you fall in love with after all.” Before Jared can even process her words, there’s a loud  _THWACK_  followed by an outraged gasp. He looks up to see his mother looming over Diana, as Diana presses a hand against her right cheek.  
  
“Get out!” Jared’s mom yells. “NOW!”  
  
“Oh hush, woman,” Jensen’s dad chimes in and Jared seriously wants the ground to open up and swallow him now. “You’re lucky that we’re not threatening to call the police!”  
  
“We’re not?” Diana seems to have found her voice again and she turns around to glare at her husband. “You’re going to let this bitch get away with that?”  
  
“Hey now…” and Jared was wondering when  _his_ Dad was going have his input. “I’m sure we can resolve this like…reasona—like  _adults_.” But his Dad’s words are lost amidst the full scale bickering that breaks out. Jared eventually grows tired of it and he pushes his chair back, stands up and walks out. He’s in the hallway, grabbing his jacket when Jensen catches up with him. Jensen grabs his hand before Jared can shrug the sleeve on and he squeezes it. Jared freezes up and he stares at Jensen blankly.  
  
“This is all our fault,” Jensen mumbles quietly and Jared bites back the  _No, this is all YOUR fault_  that instantly pops into his head.  
  
“One more day and this’ll all be over,” he replies as he squeezes back, dropping Jensen’s hand immediately. He goes back to putting his jacket on. Without a word to Jensen, he turns and heads for the front door.  
  
“Wait!” Jensen calls out. “Are we okay? Is what we talked about at the club still…okay?” He sounds so sincere that Jared wants to just punch a fucking wall or something. But he knows what he has to do; he knows that if he wants to get the perfect payback, he’s got to stay strong.  
  
“Of course,” he says. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He doesn’t wait for Jensen to reply before he pulls the door open and leaves. It’s kind of a dick move, leaving without telling his parents or his sister, but Jared just wants some peace for once. He needs some time to think about the epic shitstorm that his wedding is going to descend into.  
  
“Jared!” As Jared turns around, Jensen pulls him in for a kiss, right there on the sidewalk where anyone can see them. It’s desperate, messy and so unlike Jensen that it takes Jared a little while to respond. His heart pounds in his chest as his conflicted feelings swirl around inside and mess with him even more.  
  
“I forgot to do that,” Jensen murmurs breathlessly as he pulls back. He looks into Jared’s eyes and his face changes, his expression falling a little and he steps back. “Jared, there’s something th—”  
  
“—Jensen!” Diana’s shrill voice cuts into what Jensen’s saying and Jensen turns away. “We’re leaving son, get over here now. There’s plenty of time to see your young man tomorrow.” Jensen lets out a frustrated grunt as he gives Jared an apologetic smile. And just for once Jared wants Jensen to put him first, he wants a sign that Jensen’s really into him. That he means what he said about them being together for real.  
  
“Come home with me,” he pleads suddenly. “Just…let’s just forget about our parents and do our own thing. Just this once.  _Please_.”  
  
“I can’t,” Jensen says as he starts to back away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”  
  
Jared just turns and resumes his journey, ignoring Jensen as he calls for Jared’s name once again. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls out it out. There’s a message from his sister.  
  
 _is it weird that I find my brother making out with his fiancé hot? it is isnt it? fuck._  
  
He rolls his eyes and deletes it, the burn of Jensen’s rejection still stinging him inside. As he rounds the corner of the street, he scrolls down his list of contacts and finds one that he’d programmed in that morning. He hits call.  
  
“Agent Hodge? Hi, it’s Jared Padalecki. I think I might know where you can find that man you were looking for...”  
  


  
Jared spends most of his walk home convincing himself that he's done the right thing. But each argument his subconscious comes up with sounds hollow to him. By the time he reaches his house, he's so wrecked that he spends a good five minutes with his back against the door as he tries not to panic. He’s halfway through some basic breathing exercises when his phone buzzes in his hand. It’s a text from Chad.  
  
 _not staying at your pit of doom tonite, see u in the mornin!_  
  
Jared sighs; so much for talking to Chad about this. If anything Chad should have talked him out of this by now. This is all Chad’s fault.  
  
 _No it’s not_ , the voice in his head provides and Jared takes great pleasure in telling it to shut the fuck up.  
  
He doesn’t sleep a wink that night.  
  


  
The ceremony is taking place at midday and Jared finds himself awake and dressed at around 7 in the morning. His suit is at his parent’s house because it makes sense for him to get dressed there. Jared tries to take a shower but all that comes out of the shower head is a few stray drops of water. With a long suffering sigh, he steps out and makes do with brushing his teeth and splashing some cold water his face. He could always go over to his parents now but he kind of wants some quiet time before everything goes down. He scrounges around for some loose change in his wallet, hassles Chad for his whereabouts and a bus ride and a fifteen minute walk later he finds himself in Chad’s hotel room.  
  
“What, my house isn’t good enough for you anymore?” Jared’s only half joking but Chad just laughs in his face.  
  
“Your place sucks, you know it, I know it,” Chad says. “That damn pipe was keeping me up at night.” Jared shrugs. Chad does have a point for once so he lets it slide.  
  
“I just realised that I never asked you to be best man,” he says more to himself than Chad. “I feel like I should be more prepared for my fake wedding than I actually am.”  
  
“Dude, just look it up on the internet,” Chad says. “You and Jensen will breeze through this easily and laugh all the way to the bank.” There isn’t an ounce of sincerity in Chad’s voice and Jared raises an eyebrow at his best friend. Chad’s eyes are drawn down to his iPhone and Jared can’t help voicing his curiosity.  
  
“So how come you haven’t tried talking me out of this?” he asks. Chad finishes tapping out his message, stands up and starts to rummage through his bag.  
  
“Which tie should I wear?” He holds up two different ones and Jared squints at the one in Chad’s right hand.  
  
“Does that say ‘I’d Tap That’ all over it?” Jared asks as he gestures at the tie in question and Chad grins. Jared grimaces to himself. Some people never change.  
  
“You know you love it,” Chad says. “And to answer your question, I tried.  _Twice_. But you were adamant and whenever you get like this, it’s best to just let you do what you want.”  
  
“But what happens when it all falls apart?”  
  
“I’ll pick up the pieces and let you cry all over me like the big girl you are,” Chad says, “And then I’ll laugh my ass off.”  
  
“You truly are the best friend ever.” Jared’s response is dripping with sarcasm and Chad flips him the bird.  
  


  
Jared arrives at his parent’s house with Chad in tow at around ten. Chad is dressed but Jared’s still in his hoodie and jeans and his mother tuts at him when she sees him.  
  
“Jared, you’ve only got two hours until the ceremony starts,” she admonishes him. “You were supposed to be here an hour ago!” She’s hurrying off somewhere else before Jared can even reply and he rolls his eyes at her retreating figure.  
  
An hour later, he’s dressed and his hair looks sort of presentable. His suit is a dark, charcoal grey complete with a crisp white shirt and a black tie and a white rose in the buttonhole. Jared thinks he looks good and he can’t help wondering just how good Jensen’s going to look in his. He hasn’t seen the other man yet. A fact that Jared is grateful for. His stomach is full of nerves and butterflies but for all the wrong reasons. All it will take is a glimpse of Jensen for his resolve to break down. See, Jared’s got a plan. Not only is he going to show Jensen how he’s made Jared feel, he’s going to expose  _everything_. The weaker part of him is still in two minds about it – he doesn’t want Sheppard to hurt Jensen. But there’s this strong, dark anger within him pushing him to do it.  
  
After one last glance in the mirror, Jared ventures out of his room. His parents, sister and Chad are nowhere to be seen so Jared finds himself downstairs alone. The back garden’s been transformed. It looks….it looks great. The decorations are simple but tasteful and even the flower arrangement isn’t too garish. Then Jared notices the sheer amount of people. There’s a flurry of hats and purses as people flow past him. The photographer is at the far end of the yard setting up his camera and tripod and Jared snorts to himself. The guy’s going to capture one hell of a show on video.  
  


  
At some point between the guests all being seated and Jared taking his position at the end of the aisle he realises that they’ve ignored a lot of the simpler details. Like, the music, and how they’re going to walk up the aisle, and who will be bridesmaids and ushers. He mentions this to his mom as she fusses around with his hair and she gives him a dark look.  
  
“Just don’t be mean to the bridesmaids, okay?” she says. “Their mother has it in for me.” Jared bites back his response and wisely keeps his mouth shut. As he turns to look straight ahead he feels something tugging at his sleeve.  
  
“Hey, tall guy,” one of the little girls says. “Shouldn’t you be smiling? Aren’t you happy?”  
  
“Shhh,” the other girl hisses. “He’s probably nervous.” Jared stares at them both as he tries hard to remember who the hell they are. Before he can, the organ player starts playing a song that Jared doesn’t even know. He’s reached the front of the aisle before he even knows it and he turns around and spots Jensen standing where Jared had been seconds ago. Even from Jared’s distant spot Jensen looks gorgeous. He’s wearing the same thing as Jared but somehow he looks ten times better.  
  
Jared wishes he could hate Jensen a little for it, but he doesn’t. He starts to feel a little sick as he scans the rows of guests for two familiar faces. He’s still looking when his view is blocked by Jensen’s face. Jensen’s cheeks are both tinted pink and he looks genuinely nervous and happy. It puts Jared on edge a little because while it  _looks_  real, he knows first-hand that Jensen’s a good actor when he needs to be.  
  
“Hey,” Jensen says softly.  
  
“Hi,” Jared says back, pretending not to notice how he sounds kind of choked up. The minister starts to talk and Jared blocks it all out. He vaguely hears her mentioning their names but it’s all a blur to him. Jensen reads his vows first and most of it is white noise to Jared with parts filtering in every few seconds. He doesn’t realise it’s his turn to say his vows until Jensen grabs his hand and says his name. He blinks and turns to see every eye on him. A glint towards his left catches his eye and he turns to see some family member that he doesn’t even know holding the rings. The feeling of  _wrong_  spreads through him and he knows that it’s time.  
  
“Hodge, Cassidy. You’re up,” he says, projecting his voice as far as it can go so they can all hear him. “This wedding is over.” There’s an audible gasp as everyone hears Jared’s words and he doesn’t attempt to look at Jensen. Not even when Agents Cassidy and Hodge stride up to the front.  
  
“Jensen Ackles? You’re under arrest on suspicion of money laundering and theft…” Jared tunes Hodge out as the snick of the handcuffs being snapped onto Jensen causes him to finally look up.  
  
Jensen’s face is blank and emotionless.  
  
“Can someone please explain what’s going on?” Diana asks and the crowd voices their agreement. Jared turns to Jensen again but the other man looks away. So, he’s going to be the one to explain everything then? Fine.  
  
“This wedding is a sham,” Jared says. “All of this? It was just a set up, we were going to take all the gifts and put them on eBay. The official marriage in New York? That was never going to happen. We set out to con all of you and that’s what we’ve done.”  
  
“So what’s changed?” Someone helpfully calls out the question and Jared turns and jabs a figure out Jensen.  
  
“I found out that he lied to me about something,” he answers. “See, when I first saw him again he’d just driven my belongings home in a mover’s van. Or well, what was left of my stuff. He sold half it to God knows who, and then he lied about it, said that he’d been robbed.” There’s another gasp but Jared doesn’t look away from Jensen. The other man has a look of realisation on his face and Jared sneers at him.  
  
“He had every opportunity to tell me but he didn’t,” Jared continues. “All of this? I did it for him and he was just lying to me the entire time.”  
  
“Oh please,” Diana says. “If all of that is even true, why didn’t you just leave him and put an end to this ridiculous farce from the beginning!”  
  
“Because I loved him!”  
  
“Jared…” Jensen calls from where Hodge and Cassidy are still holding him.  
  
“Yeah, more fool me,” Jared says. “And now all of you know, your precious Jensen Ackles is working with criminals, and he’s been doing it in Dallas of all places.” He turns to Jensen’s parents, who are glaring at him from the front row.  
  
“Right under your fucking noses,” he says with some sort of manic glee in his voice. “So there it is. There’s the truth! Enjoy the reception everyone, enjoy that fucking three-tier wedding cake that we have – not the six that me and Mark agreed on – but enjoy it nonetheless!” Jared’s met by an eerie quietness as his voice dies down. He glances at Jensen one last time, as the silence that’s taken over threatens to deafen him.  
  
Suddenly, Jared’s very aware of the fact that every single eye is on him. His face flushes as embarrassment courses through him. Seconds later, his vision blurs and he can feel his lower lip start to tremble.  
  
He turns around and runs.  
  



	5. Chapter 5

  
  
  
  
“Jared! Jared!” His sister is hot on his heels but he just quickens his strides as he makes his way to the main door. “Jared!” He slams the door shut behind him and starts to run. He stops mere minutes later because it feels like he can’t breathe and he starts to struggle with his fucking tie. That’s where Chad finds him, five minutes away from his parent’s house, swearing and talking to his fucking necktie of all things.  
  
“Jared…just calm down,” Chad says in what he probably thinks is a soothing voice. It isn’t.  
  
“I can’t get this stupid thing off!” He says as he tugs on it and Chad bats his hands away and helps him take it off.  
  
“So,” Chad says as he takes a step back. “Now that you’ve got all of that off your chest, do you feel any better?”  
  
“No,” Jared says sadly. “Not even a little bit.”  
  


  
Chad ends up dropping Jared off at his house and he proceeds to wallow in self-pity on his couch. He can’t help thinking about Jensen. Where is he now? Are the FBI going to charge him? Is he going to end up serving twenty years in some maximum security prison? Jared’s seen  _Jail_  on CBS, and prison looks like it’d be kind of terrifying. Tons of questions spin around in his mind and Jared starts to think that he’s a couple of hours away from a breakdown. His phone’s been buzzing non-stop, even after he’d gotten frustrated and thrown it halfway across the room. His stomach’s been grumbling angrily ever since Chad dropped him off but he feels too nauseous to eat. There’s this  _ache_  inside his chest that just won’t go away. It’s closely followed by feelings of guilt.  
  
God, what has he done? Granted, Jensen  _had_  stolen his stuff, but why hadn’t Jared asked him about it? Why hadn’t he given Jensen a chance to explain? Maybe there was a good reason behind it?  
  
Or maybe there wasn’t.  
  


  
When Jared jolts awake on his couch, it’s around 7pm. He groans to himself as he sits up and then promptly freaks the fuck out when he sees his sister sitting on his coffee table watching him.  
  
“What the fuck?” he says as he jumps back. Melissa raises an eyebrow at him and shakes her head.  
  
“You’re still as eloquent as ever, brother,” she says dryly. “I called you sixteen times.” She doesn’t sound too upset over the fact that Jared didn’t answer any of them. If anything, she sounds amused.  
  
“You find this whole situation hilarious. Don’t you?”  
  
“Yup.” She says with a grin. “I loved the whole reveal speech, which was a nice touch. And hey, it was all going pretty well until you almost burst into tears.”  
  
“That’s not fair,” Jared says. “Am I really that pathetic?” She doesn’t answer straight away and Jared feels himself pouting a little. His kid sister thinks that he’s pathetic.  
  
Perfect.  
  
“You’re not pathetic, just…pathetically in love,” Melissa says softly. “Everybody could see it, except for Jensen’s parents’ maybe. His mother really doesn’t like you.”  
  
“Meh,” Jared says with a hand wave. “She’s probably just jealous of my hair.” He doesn’t comment on her saying that he’s in love with Jensen. He can’t even think about that right now.  
  
“Yeah, keep on dreaming Jared.”  
  
“Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, but why are you even here?” Jared asks. He’s surprised that his mother hasn’t turned up yet.  
  
“Mom wanted to come over,” his sister says and Jared snorts to himself. “But Dad managed to talk her out of it so I came instead. Though, Jensen did ask me to come after you as the FBI escorted him out.”  
  
“He did? Was he okay? I mean, apart from the whole getting arrested thing?”  
  
“He seemed okay, a little resigned maybe.”  
  
“Where is he now?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Melissa says. “And it’s not really my place to find out either. Look, he might have lied to you, but you both lied to  _everyone_. Maybe you should cut him some slack.”  
  
“I get that you’re trying to help sis, but you don’t know everything,” Jared says. “I borrowed 6K from Dad to help him sort out his mess; I got beaten up by one of his thug friends. And I didn’t blame him for any of that, because I thought that I was helping him. I thought that we were friends. It turns out that he was just playing me.”  
  
“You’re right, I don’t know everything,” his sister agrees. “But what I know is that my brother is a very generous man. His heart’s always in the right place, even if he doesn’t always make the best choices. He usually talks to people when he has an issue with them and he  _definitely_ knows better than to make a public spectacle out of them.”  
  
“I’d like to meet him someday,” Jared jokes, but it falls flat when his sister gives him a shrewd look. “Fine. Message received loud and clear.”  
  


After his sister leaves, Jared goes out to get a burrito. He can’t help feeling a little chagrined at the fact that he didn’t even get to sample the buffet at his own fake wedding. It’d taken him a good two hours to sort out the menus with Mark. Nobody should ever have to spend two hours with Mark willingly. Jared shrugs off the annoyance and makes do with a slightly greasy burrito and he hums to himself as he unlocks his front door. He drops his keys in the hall and makes his way over to the couch – again. His mind strays to Jensen again, and he thinks about maybe calling Jensen’s parents to see if they’ve heard from him. Or perhaps he can call Hodge or Cassidy. Surely one of them would tell him what’s going on.  
  
Before he can do either, he’s distracted by a drop of water landing on his head. He looks up and notices a large, suspiciously dark patch on his ceiling.  _Shit_. More drops of water start to fall and Jared stands up quickly, the remnants of his burrito long forgotten as he runs out of the room and up the stairs. As he bursts into the bathroom and almost goes sliding across the tiles, his worst fears are confirmed. The fucking creaky, old tap has finally given up and water is  _everywhere_. For some reason Jared starts to laugh to himself. He wonders how he’d look to an outsider as he stands there, giggling like an idiot as water sprays everywhere. At one point, he stumbles and slips, falling face first onto the wet floor and his laughter subsides. He pretends not to notice tears prickling at the corner of his eyes.  
  


  
By the time he makes his way downstairs to retrieve his phone, it’s pretty late. Jared can’t help feeling a little isolated without Jensen here, even though Jensen hadn’t been here the previous night either. Jared decides that he’s being stupid. So he does his best to focus on making sure that everything he owns doesn’t end up waterlogged. He finds his phone across the room in an impressive pile of dust. Ignoring all of the missed calls, he dials the plumber’s number and leaves a message on the voicemail. Perhaps that guy will actually bother to show up this time around. Jared thinks about leaving a message complete with dramatic, faux sobbing, maybe that’ll bring the guy over sometime this month.  
  
As Jared is contemplating this, his phone starts to buzz in his hand. Without checking the caller ID, he answers the call.  
  
“Jared?”  
  
Jared thinks about ending the call as he hears Jensen’s voice but he can’t bring himself to do it. He opens his mouth to respond but his words appear to get stuck in his throat. There’s an awkward silence as Jared just stands there in his front room, soaking wet and Jensen remains just as quiet on the other end.  
  
“What do you want?” Jared asks eventually, because the sooner the call ends, the sooner he can get back to his pity party.  
  
“I need your help,” Jensen says. “They’ve charged me with a whole bunch of shit, but they’ve offered me a plea bargain.”  
  
“Okay,” Jared says. “And?”  
  
“And, I need someone to bail me out,” Jensen says. “I have some reserved cash that I kept for an emergency; the bail’s set at $3,000 – I should have enough.”  
  
“You can’t be serious, Jensen,” Jared says angrily. “Do you really expect me to bail you out?”  
  
“I’m hoping that you will, but hey, if you choose to leave me here then that’s fine.” Jensen tells Jared where the money is and where he’s being held and then makes his excuses and hangs up. Jared just stands there with a dumfounded look on his face.  _It’s for emergencies_  had been Jensen’s excuse when Jared voiced his outrage at him hiding money at Jared’s house. Emergency his ass, Jared thinks as he makes his way back up stairs. If anything, he should take the money that Jensen’s kindly stashed under his fucking floorboards and go book himself into a nice hotel for the night.  
  
But Jared’s not going to leave Jensen to rot in there. Not when all he can think about right now is how he’s going to get to the freaking detention center.  
  


  
It’s the early hours of the next morning when Jared arrives at the detention center. The girl attending the front desk gives Jared a comical look as he steps in, his hair wet and stringy and his suit completely ruined. Wisely she doesn’t say anything and Jared tells her why he’s here. She taps a few details into her computer and tells Jared to wait. A few minutes later, the booking officer turns up and confirms that Jared has the bail amount on him. Jared hands over the slightly damp wad of cash, $3,000 in all. Jared’s told to wait again and with a sigh, he slumps down onto the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting area.  
  
After half an hour, a door slams and he looks up to see Jensen signing some forms. The booking officer beckons Jared over and he has to sign somewhere. He barely looks down at the paper, just scribbles down something that’s barely legible. He drops the pen and ventures towards the exit before Jensen can even say a word, his legs creaking after being still for so long. It’s hot and humid as he steps outside and Jared suddenly feels as though he can’t breathe.  
  
Jensen finds him with his back against the wall of the building as he tries to take in lungfuls of air.  
  
“Hey, hey,” he says gently as he puts a soothing hand on Jared’s back. The touch snaps Jared to reality pretty damn fast.  
  
“Don’t touch me,” he practically spits out as he stretches up to his full height. “You’re lucky that I bailed you out.”  
  
“I’m grateful for that,” Jensen says sombrely. “Thank you.”  
  
“Whatever, I was probably your last resort anyway; bet Mommy and Daddy didn’t want to bail out their lying, cheating son.”  
  
“I called you first.”  
  
“It doesn’t make a difference, Jensen. Me and you? We’re done.” Jensen lets out a frustrated noise and Jared starts to walk again. He doesn’t have to put up with this. He’d borrowed Chad’s car on his way here and as he strides the car park, he pulls out the keys and unlocks the door. Jensen hasn’t moved from the exit of the detention center and Jared turns to him expectantly.  
  
“Well are you coming or not?” he demands. “I don’t exactly have any cash on me to give you money for the bus.”  
  


  
They wind up at some 24 hour diner somewhere and the waitress takes pity on them when she sees the state that’s Jared’s in and pours them both a free coffee. Jensen gives her a huge smile and a wink and Jared finds himself seething all over again. He wonders if that’s how Jensen does it. Charms people, makes them think that he’s a good ol’ Texan boy before cruelly deceiving them and breaking their trust.  
  
“So you ratted me out to the cops,” Jensen says conversationally and Jared gives him an incredulous look and kicks Jensen under the table.  
  
“Fuck you,” he hisses in response. “You lied to me. You sold my stuff,  _lied_  to me and then  _slept_  with me.” Jensen’s protest at being kicked dies on his lips and his expression softens. If anything, Jared should leave now. He should just get up and walk out before Jensen gives him some sort of bullshit explanation. But he’s weak and he wants to know why, he wants to hear Jensen’s side of things. He deflates visibly, his shoulders slumping as he rests back on his seat.  
  
“I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have slept with you,” Jensen says eventually. “It’s not like it was part of the plan,  _you_ weren’t even part of the plan. I’ve been living down in Dallas for a year or so now. Not New York like I said. It was safe at first. My parents live in San Antonio and they were none the wiser, and I was away from Sheppard and his cronies.  
  
“But then I realised that they’d been tracking me since I left New York. They threatened to rough up my parents for cash if I didn’t do those jobs for them.”  
  
“Selling innocent people’s things?” Jared asks bitterly. He doesn’t miss the way Jensen’s expression saddens and he starts to feel his resolve soften a little.  
  
Jensen nods, “That and occasionally smuggling shit, I don’t know what. I never asked.”  
  
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”  
  
“I was scared,” Jensen admits. “These guys are serious criminals. They weren’t joking around when they sent me all of those threats. Hell, I’m not sure if this safe – me being in town. What if Sheppard’s friends are after me?”  
  
“They’re not,” Jared says. “I told the FBI that I didn’t think you were acting alone. Gave them Sheppard’s name, Katie told me that they arrested him and his crew this morning.”  
  
“Katie?”  
  
“Agent Cassidy.”  
  
“Oh right. The one who freaking arrested me!”  
  
“You deserved it.”  
  
“Yeah…” Jensen says softly. “Yeah I did. Being locked up certainly made me think.”  
  
“You’ve barely been locked up for a day,” Jared points out. “I should have made you sweat a little.”  
  
“You don’t have it in you,” Jensen says gently. “You’re too good. You’re too good for  _me_. But that’s just it. When I was locked up, thinking that if I got out of there, the first thing I’d do is make you see how sorry I was. Make you see that I  _loved_ you.”  
  
And right on cue, Jared’s heart skips a beat. At first it feels like there are somersaults happening inside his stomach. But then the cogs and wheels turn around in his head and it feels more like someone’s just punched him in the chest.  
  
Jensen’s probably telling him what he wants to hear.  
  
“What if I say that it’s too late?” Jared says, and his voice sounds distant. Almost as though he’s listening to himself from another room. “What if I don’t believe you?”  
  
“I’d do my best to make you see that I’m telling truth,” Jensen says, and there’s definitely a strained edge to his tone. Jared wants to give in, he wants to tell Jensen that he loves him too but…he’s tired of being hurt.  
  
“You lied to me,” Jared repeats himself again, watching as Jensen winces like he’s been slapped in his face. “I just…I’m done with people lying to me.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a twenty-dollar bill that he’d borrowed from Chad.  
  
“You can pick up your stuff whenever, but leave the key in the hallway,” Jared says as he slides out of the booth. “I guess I’ll have to borrow the money from my parents to fix my place up and replace everything.”  
  
“Jared—”  
  
“Yeah, more fool me, right? I hope I never see you again.”  
  
Jared doesn’t bother to wait to hear what Jensen has to say.  
  


  
Jared goes from lounging around in his own house to lounging around in the room he has at his parent’s house. Ideally, he should be out there job hunting so he can pay for work on the house but he can’t just bring himself to. His parents had refused to lend him the money; they said that they hadn’t raised a son that was too proud to ask for their help. They were still mad that he hadn’t just told them when he’d first moved back. Jared didn’t even attempt to explain himself. He just spent his days – and evenings – playing video games, watching DVDs and generally doing nothing productive.  
  
“You know, you could just call him.” his sister says one evening. Jared ignores her until she takes the hint and goes away. She returns half an hour later, with a bucket of ice cold water.  
  
“What the fuck?” Jared splutters as he sits there on his bed, dripping wet as he stares at his now damaged phone. “Now I won’t be able to—” Jared cuts himself off quickly before he can say anything stupid. Melissa doesn’t let it go that easily and she picks up the discarded thread of conversation quickly.  
  
“You won’t be able to read the text messages that Jensen sends every day? You won’t be able to read his inane Facebook posts on your wall?”  
  
“Did you see that awful Haiku he wrote?” Jared asks, because he’s been wanting to talk to someone about that. “What was up with that?”  
  
“He wanted to appeal to the English teacher in you,” Melissa says as she tries not to smile. “I told him that it was a step too far.”  
  
“Huh,” Jared says as he gets up from his bed and shakes some excess water out of his hair. Melissa jumps back, shrieking a little as she’s sprayed with droplets.  
  
“Asshole,” she mutters and Jared sticks his tongue out at her.  
  
“Is there any point to all of this?”  
  
“Yes,” she says. “Look, imagine that you’re back in your house, on your wedding day—”  
  
“—it wasn’t my wedding d—”  
  
“—shh,” Melissa cuts Jared off and continues with what she was saying. “Imagine that you’re back at your house, your pipes just burst and you’re soaking wet. Do you A, give up on the man you love and spend the next couple of weeks wallowing as he makes a fool of himself on the internet or do you B, follow your heart and forgive him while threatening to kick his ass if he ever tries it again?”  
  
“A,” Jared says as a matter-of-factly. “Definitely A.”  
  
“Please,” Melissa says as she stands in his door way with the empty bucket hanging loosely from her hand. “You bailed him out on the same day, bro. That kinda screams B to me.”  
  
“Well I couldn’t just leave him there,” Jared says wistfully. “I’m not  _that_ malicious.”  
  
“All I know is that when you were with Jensen? You were happy, both of you were. And if there’s anyone out there who deserves love like that, it’s you.”  
  
Jared tries his hardest to ignore the lump in his throat as she turns and walks out of his room.  
  


  
Three days later Jared finds himself staring up at the front door of his house. The pipe’s been fixed but Jared hasn’t bothered to come over to tidy his place up. He can’t stay here on his own anymore, there are too many memories. He’s already called the real estate agent to see if he can try and sell it. The answer is probably going to be a resounding  _no_  seeing as how the place looked even worse than it did when he bought it. He shakes his head slightly as he reaches into his pocket and grabs his keys and briefly he remembers that first night with Jensen. Jared remembers how carefree he’d felt back then and he wishes that he could feel like that again.  
  
As he pushes the door open, he’s hit by the strong smell of fresh paint. There’s tarp spread on the floor of the hallway and Jared frowns as he lets the door slam behind him. He hears a faint whistle and as he steps further into the hallway, he realises that someone’s whistling along to a Coldplay song. Jared hates the way his heartbeat rises up a little as he steps into the front room. He should be surprised to see Jensen standing in front of the far wall with a roller brush in his hand, but he isn’t. He mentally wills himself not to get a hard on as his eyes travel downwards to the outline of Jensen’s ass in his paint-speckled overalls. Jensen’s still oblivious to Jared’s presence behind him and he’s still whistling along to the Coldplay song. Jared’s head is so full of  _Jensen Jensen Jensen_ that he can’t even remember the name of the damn song.  
  
“I thought that you weren’t a Coldplay fan?” Jared says eventually and Jensen is startled so hard that he jumps and the paint roller rockets out of his hand. Paint splatters everywhere, including Jared’s shirt. Damn.  
  
“Jared!” Jensen exclaims. “You scared the hell out of me!” Jared’s too busy revelling in the sound of Jensen’s deep, whiskey rough voice and he takes a few steps forward, his eyes meeting Jensen’s. Not for the first time, he’s mesmerized by the other man’s vibrant, green gaze. He bites his lip to stop himself from doing something embarrassing like  _drooling_.  
  
“What are you doing in my house, Jensen?” he asks instead and Jensen turns to point at the lime green paint on the walls.  
  
“Painting,” he says his voice quiet and unsure. “I get that you don’t want to give me a chance, but I want to help you out with this place. You did let me stay here free of charge so…I’m just returning the favour.”  
  
“Right,” Jared says. “And where did you get the money for all of this?” Something flits across Jensen’s eyes but Jared can’t bring himself to regret asking. If they’re going to do this – if he’s going to take Jensen back, he has to know that he can trust Jensen. Burying his head in the sand doesn’t quite cut it anymore.  
  
“I sold some items, and the rings and my Dad  _made_  me pay your Dad back, and in return I have to work at my dad’s office for the next six months with no pay.”  
  
“Sorry about that,” Jared says because he knows how much Jensen doesn’t want to be part of his Dad’s law firm, and he feels a little guilty.  
  
“It’s not your fault, there’s no need to apologise,” Jensen says with a rueful smile. “Oh and I tried to locate some of your stuff but the FBI claims that they haven’t come across it yet.”  
  
“What’s going to happen to you?” Jared asks worriedly. “Are you looking at jail time?”  
  
“Nah,” Jensen says with a gentle shake of his head. “The information I gave them was enough for them to sweet talk the DA, plus – my Dad’s kind of a big deal, I got let off with a huge fine and a caution.”  
  
“So, you’re…you’re doing alright then,” Jared says, as something cold starts to wash over him. Maybe his sister was wrong; maybe he should have listened to Jensen’s messages. It’s starting to seem as though Jensen’s already moved on from everything – from Jared - whereas today’s the first day that Jared hasn’t spent lounging around at his parent’s house.  
  
“Not really,” Jensen replies as he steps closer to where Jared’s standing, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. “See, I was wrong when I said that love was for fools, all of that stuff about relationships was just crap because being in love with you? It’s the best thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t stop thinking about you, can’t stop wishing that I hadn’t fucked things up, that I hadn’t hurt someone as good as you.”  
  
“I’m not as good as you think I am,” Jared says, blushing as Jensen gives him this little smile.  
  
“You would say that,” Jensen says. “But I know that I screwed up my chance with you by not telling you the truth. I hope that we can at least be friends again someday?”  
  
He’s giving Jared the perfect out and Jared just freezes. He stands there and looks into Jensen’s eyes and finally sees the love that he feels reflected back at him in Jensen’s eyes.  
  
Hope blossoms in his chest.  
  
“I don’t think I’d be able to be your friend,” Jared says and he watches Jensen’s face fall a little before he continues. “When all I want to do right now is kiss you.” Jensen’s eyes widen slowly as the meaning of Jared’s words begin to resonate. Slowly they gravitate towards each other, until they’re practically breathing the same air.  
  
“Yeah?” Jensen asks softly and Jared nods.  
  
“Yeah,” he says as a wide smile breaks out on his face. He leans in finally, and they share a kiss. It’s slow and heady and Jared feels himself getting lost in their embrace. He doesn’t fret over it though, because as cheesy as it sounds, he knows that he can count on Jensen to find him.  
  
As they break apart, Jensen grins up at him with a wicked glint in his eye.  
  
“I managed to grab a hold of those tickets to Barbados, when I was at your house mailing gifts back to people.” At first Jared has no idea what Jensen means but then it clicks. The gift from the bridge club. And, hey – what’s an almost fake-wedding without a sort of fake honeymoon?  
  
“When do we leave?”? Jared asks he steps back from Jensen and surveys the walls.  
  
“Two weeks ago,” Jensen replies. “But, I fixed the travel agent’s sink the other day and persuaded her to change the dates for me.”  
  
“Really?” Jared says dryly with his eyebrow raised in apprehension.  
  
“Well, I wasn’t going to let a perfectly good vacation go to waste,” Jensen says and Jared sighs fondly. He turns to leave the room so he can survey the rest of his house when Jensen calls his name.  
  
“I love you,” Jensen says, his voice soft and serious and he gives Jared this  _secret_  smile that Jared’s never seen before.  
  
He smiles back, his heart soaring in his chest once again as he processes Jensen’s declaration.  
  
“I love you too.”  
  
 ** _Fin._**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


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